Inevitable
by efficacious humorosity
Summary: Two Is Better Than One from Ron's point of view.  His view of his developing relationship with Sandy Potter.  Very, very Ron-centric.  AU.  R/OC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I own nothing. Leave reviews please! **

Chapter 1: First Year

"So, boys, are you all packed and ready to go back to school tomorrow?"

Molly Weasley looked round the table expectantly at her horde of redheaded children. "Yes, Mum," they chorused, except for the two youngest.

Ginny, the first girl to be born into the Weasley family for several generations said nothing, but stared down at her plate with tears in her eyes. At ten years old, she was one year short of being old enough to go to Hogwarts, and she hated the boring, dreary months at home without her brothers. Up until this year, she had had Ron to keep her company, but now he too was to go to Hogwarts.

Ron, the youngest son and the second youngest child of the family, kept silent because he felt that if he opened his mouth, his dinner would make its way back up his digestive tract. He was far too nervous about starting at Hogwarts the following day to say anything.

He had a reputation to uphold. His eldest brother Bill had been Head Boy. Charlie had been a phenomenal Quidditch player. Percy was now a prefect, and Fred and George were mischievous pranksters loved by the entire student body. In short, people expected him to be smart, athletic, funny, or any combination thereof. As he forked some collard greens into his mouth, he didn't feel particularly brilliant at anything.

"Oh, let's not forget," said Fred suddenly, a wicked smile on his face, "it's Ickle Ronnie's first day at Hogwarts tomorrow!"

"Are you _nervous_, Ronniekins?" teased George, elbowing his younger brother in the ribs.

"Shuddup," Ron muttered, blushing a furious red color that rivaled his hair.

"Ah, thank you for reminding me," said Mrs. Weasley, beaming at her youngest son. "Ron, you're to take Fred and George's old robes, I just washed for you. They just grew out of them. You'll also take their old first year school books; thank _goodness_ they require the same lot for you."

He felt his stomach drop. He already had Charie's old wand and Percy's old rat, now he was to have Fred and George's old school things as well? What would people think? How was he supposed to make friends that way? "But, Mum-!" he protested, but Percy cut him off.

"Mum, can I get a new cage for Hermes? I think Errol bothers him…"

"Muuuuum, can't I go to Hogwarts too?" whined Ginny, tears forming in her eyes.

"Molly, can I have some more soup?"

Ron sighed. Clearly he wasn't going to be heard, not with the rest of his family here. He loved his family, but he couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts and start to make a name for himself.

IIIIIIIIIII

All coherent thought left Ron's mind the moment he laid eyes on her.

He was only eleven at the time, but he did know that she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He watched, mouth slightly open, as his mother began to explain to the girl and the boy he assumed was her brother (for the resemblance between the two was so marked that they must be related) how to get to the platform.

"This is Ron's first year too," he heard his mom say, as though she were at a great distance.

The boy and girl glanced at him, and the girl managed to catch Ron's eyes. Green eyes met blue, and it was in that instant that Ron knew that she was the only girl for him. He would never feel this way about any other girl; every fiber in his eleven year old being was certain.

He watched, still slightly in awe of her, as she and her brother disappeared through the barrier between platforms nine and ten. He quickly followed, eager to catch up to them and sit with them on the train.

However, when he arrived on the other side of the barrier, he could not spot either of them anywhere.

"Are they really _them_?" asked Fred, appearing out of nowhere, as he and George were so fond of doing, to Ron's left.

"What're you on about?" asked Ron irritably, glaring at his elder brother.

George materialized to Ron's right, saying, "The boy and girl on the platform! Are they really the Potter twins?"

"What?" spat out Ron. "What d'you mean the Potter twins?"

"Oh, come on, Ron," said Fred condescendingly, "We always knew you were thick, but even you can't be _that_ thick."

"They both had black hair and green eyes," George said. "And I _swear_ I saw a lightning bolt scar on that boy's forehead."

Ron felt his stomach drop. If the girl he so adored was in fact Sandy Potter, then she was most certainly out of his league. How could a nobody like him, Ronald Weasley, possibly stand a chance with someone as famous and supposedly powerful as Sandy Potter?

IIIIIII

"Wow," Ron murmured under his breath, watching as Harry and Sandy zoomed across the sky on their brooms, upstaging Malfoy in a spectacular fashion. _They could fly_.

As he watched them, he began to notice a trend. One twin would throw the Remembrall to a seemingly empty spot, but the other twin would be there in a split second to catch it. Their reactions were almost superhuman, as if they were reading each other's mind.

It was at that moment that Ron first noticed that, not only were Harry and Sandy incredibly close, but they moved fluidly together, almost as if they were two halves of a whole.

IIIIIII

Ron loathed Hermione. She was bossy, obnoxious know-it-all. To top it all off, it seemed to be her mission in life to make him look bad in front of Sandy. She was constantly humiliating him in front of her, pointing out his mistakes during lessons, calling him a good-for-nothing nutter when they almost got eaten by that three-headed dog and so on. It was because of this that Ron finally cracked during Charms class.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!_"

Hermione smiled smugly at Ron as she upstaged him once more. "You see, Ron," she said, a smirk playing on her lips, "perhaps if you pulled your nose away from your dinner plate and into a book once in a while, you'd be able to perform a simple spell."

Ron felt himself turn a brilliant shade of red. Sandy and Harry had both definitely heard; they were sitting at the next table over and had looked up when Hermione had spoken. Both twins were wearing looks of mixed shock and contempt directed toward her.

Clenching his hand into a fist, Ron said to Hermione through gritted teeth, "Well, maybe if _you_ pulled your nose out of your books once in a while, you'd realize that absolutely _no one_ here likes you."

He ignored the hurt look on Hermione's face as he turned back to his feather and began trying to levitate it.

As soon as class was over, Hermione dashed out of the classroom without another word. Sandy made her way over to Ron at once. "Are you okay?" she asked in small voice. "I heard what Hermione said to you."

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, shrugging and trying to look nonchalant, though he was actually thrilled that she was concerned. "She's just a frumpy bookworm, why should I care?"

"What did you say to her though?" said Harry, appearing at Ron's side. "She looked like she was crying when she left class."

"Was she?" said Sandy, looking alarmed. "Maybe I better go find her."

"I'm sure she's fine," said Ron, biting his lip and sounding uncertain even to himself.

"She's been having a hard time adjusting," responded Sandy, lowering her voice once more. "She misses her parents terribly, and it doesn't help that she hasn't got any friends. I hear her cry herself to sleep at night." She thought for a moment. "Well, if I haven't seen her by dinner, I'll check on her."

IIIIIII

"What's going on?"

Ron heard his own voice crack as he anxiously peered up at Harry and Sandy sitting atop Harry's bucking Nimbus 2000.

"I dunno," said Hermione, sounding equally nervous. "It looks like Harry's broomstick has been jinxed…"

Ron's stomach gave a nervous jolt and he felt like he was going to be sick as the broom gave a huge lurch and Sandy went flying off. Luckily, one of his twin brothers (at this distance, he couldn't tell which) caught her. He made a mental note to thank whichever brother it was later.

Suddenly, Hermione snatched the binoculars from his hands. "Hey!" he protested, but she paid him no heed.

"Look!" she hissed, finding her prey and pointing an accusatory finger across the pitch toward the other side of the stands. "Snape's jinxing the broom!"

Seizing his binoculars once more, Ron fixed his gaze on Snape and saw that he was indeed staring fixedly up at Harry on his Nimbus, muttering under his breath and not blinking. "What are we going to do?" Ron moaned.

A blazing look of determination was set on Hermione's face. "I'll take care of him."

IIIIIII

"Get up, get up!"

Ron was woken on Christmas morning by a cascade of jet black hair throwing itself onto the foot of his bed, directly onto his knees. "Bloody hell!" he cried, sitting straight up in bed. "What's going on?" Looking around the dormitory, he realized that he and Harry were the only boys left in the room; Seamus, Dean, and Neville must have already opened their presents and gone down to breakfast.

Sandy was sitting on the foot of his bed, hugging her knees to her chest, her face flushed red with excitement. "It's Christmas!" she said enthusiastically. "And I have _presents_!"

She gestured to a pile of presents sitting on the floor near the doorway. Ron assumed that they were hers and she had carried them all the way from the girls' dormitory to theirs. "Why haven't you opened them yet?" he queried, picking up a present from the top of his own pile.

"Well," she said, blushing now, "with Hermione gone, you and Harry are all I have. I wanted to share Christmas with you."

It was Ron's turn to blush. Hoping to distract her from the brilliant red of his face, he ripped open the present he had grabbed. It was from his mother, another maroon Weasley sweater. He wrinkled his nose. "Why is it always maroon?"

"Sandy, what're you doing here?" said a thick voice. Harry had been roused by the noise of Ron shredding the wrapping paper.

"I'm here to open presents of course," she chirped cheerily. "Oh, and to give you two your presents. I didn't have a chance to wrap them until last night. Here you go." She grabbed two presents from the top of her own pile and tossed them at the boys.

Ron eagerly tore into it, wanting to see what she had gotten him. "Wow," he breathed, looking in awe as he gingerly took two tickets to a Chudley Cannons game over the summer out of a box. "Thank you _so_ much, Sandy. These are _prime_ seats, these are."

"Well, you mentioned how much you like the Cannons," she shrugged. "I figured you would like to go see a game."

"Thank you," he repeated, smiling up at her brightly.

"Blimey, Sandy, thanks!" said Harry, beaming at his twin as he opened up a whole set of books on Quidditch.

"Why don't you open your presents, Sandy?" Ron suggested.

As he had hoped, she grabbed his present first, as it was on top of the pile, and she began to open it. "Wow, how did you know I needed new Chaser gloves?" she breathed, holding up the gloves in the light, admiring them. "And… they're _dragon hide_!"

"Wow, Ron," remarked Harry. "And you just gave me some Chocolate Frogs." Harry smirked at his best mate.

Ron could not hide how red his face became.

IIIIIIII

"Hagrid is so mental!" Sandy fumed, pulling books about dragons off of the library shelves and slamming them onto a nearby table.

Ron nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah," he agreed. "Totally mental." However, he could not bring himself to rage about Hagrid just now. Harry and Hermione were down at Hagrid's helping out with Norbert, so he was quite alone with Sandy in the library, doing research about Norwegian Ridgebacks. He savored every moment he could spend alone with her, for Harry and Hermione were around so often he almost found himself annoyed with them.

Almost.

Harry was his best mate and Hermione was a very close friend as well. How could he loathe their presence?

However, that did not stop him from seeking out opportunities to spend time alone with Sandy.

They sat down at a table and began poring over books, looking for things that may help Hagrid (or help them convince Hagrid to give up Norbert). Finally, Sandy slammed her face into a book, saying, "I can't do this. I just can't."

Ron closed his book gingerly. "Are you okay?"

"There are just so many things on my mind," she admitted. "Norbert, Snape trying to steal the stone, the fact that the safety of the stone relies on Quirrell, which is not reassuring in the least… not to mention final exams, which Hermione just will _not_ shut up about…"

"Hey," he said, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "it will be okay."

She glared at him. "How do you know?"

"You've just got to take it one thing at a time. Besides, Harry, Hermione, and I aren't going anywhere. You'll always have us."

She offered him a small smile. Then she said, "Let's just go back to the common room, I'm beat."

"Sure," he said, standing hastily, knocking over his chair in the process. Over her chuckles, he said, "Are you up for a game of wizard's chess?"

IIIIII

"There has to be another way!"

The terror in Sandy's green eyes almost made him tell the truth.

Almost.

"There isn't another way!" he retorted loudly. "I've got to sacrifice myself to the queen, then Harry is free to check the king! Then you three can go on and stop Snape from stealing the stone!"

It wasn't entirely true. There was another way. However, the alternative involved sacrificing Sandy, and that was something that Ron would simply not allow to happen. He could not stand there and watch her be knocked off her feet by an oversized, unfeeling white chess piece. Besides, he was more than willing to sacrifice himself so that she, Harry, and Hermione could go on to accomplish their goal.

Before Sandy or anyone else could utter another word of protest, he made his move and turned to face the white queen.

IIIII

Ron and Hermione sat in between Harry's and Sandy's hospital beds, anxiously awaiting their awakening. "What if…?" started Ron, but Hermione promptly cut him off.

"Oh, don't start this again," she said sharply, glaring at him,

"I can't help it, Hermione!" he cried. "I'm worried! What if they don't come to?"

"They'll come to, Ron," she said firmly, though she, too, was nervous. "Don't even think otherwise."

"What if… what if something's wrong with her memory and she doesn't remember anything when she wakes up?" said Ron, continuing to venture into the unknown.

Hermione noticed his shift from 'they' to 'she,' but she decided to let it slide. "It'll be fine, Ron," she said soothingly, putting a friendly hand on his arm. "I think you're getting hysterical. Maybe you should take a nap? Neither of us have been getting very much sleep."

"Yeah, I reckon you're right," he murmured, yawning. "You always were the smart one."

IIIIII

Harry, Ron, and Sandy burst into laughter as their house of cards exploded in Hermione's face.

Even Hermione, who, at the beginning of the school year, would have scowled at them for laughing, gave a good-natured smile and even chuckled a bit.

Ron leaned back into his seat next to Sandy, enjoying the camaraderie among his closest and dearest friends. He had found his place at Hogwarts; he had even begun to make a name for himself, earning fifty points for Gryffindor for defeating McGonagall's chess set. His best friends were better than he could ask for: incredibly intelligent and good-hearted Hermione, brave and noble Harry, and loyal and steadfast Sandy. He no longer had to live in his brothers' shadows, for the four of them were a force to be reckoned with. He no longer had to strive for attention; the three people around him gave him more than enough attention.

And Sandy… though he had not believed it possible, Sandy felt the same way about him as he did about her. She _fancied _him. She wanted to be with him… one day, when they were older, when they were more ready for whatever being together meant.

Hermione derailed his train of thought. "Don't you forget to write to me over the summer, you lot," she said, her voice thick with emotion. Tears were shining in her brown eyes. Sandy reached across the compartment and grasped her best mate's hand tightly. Hermione flashed her a watery smile.

"Never," she promise. "Harry and I will work Hedwig and Thunder to their avian bones."

"Is there any chance of us seeing you lot over the summer?" asked Harry tentatively, catching his twin's eye. Both Harry and Sandy were nervous about losing contact with Ron and Hermione over the summer. They could not bear to lose the only friends they had ever had.

"Oh, definitely," said Ron, nodding his head vigorously. "I'll ask Mum and Dad, and then I'll owl you straight away." Smiling, he glanced at Sandy and he managed to catch her eye. In her emerald green eyes, he thought he saw something like hope, happiness… and a promise of something more, all in the days and years to come.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I still don't own any of it. Please read and review! **

Chapter 2

A loud thump on the window interrupted the Weasleys' breakfast. "Oh, that's Errol! He must have the post." Mrs. Weasley bustled over to the window and fetched the feeble old owl from the ground.

Ron looked up eagerly from his porridge. "Mum, is there anything for me?"

"Oh, yes, dear!" she replied, handing him a letter.

He felt his heart rate speed up as his mother handed him an envelope. Flipping it over, he dearly hoped to see Harry's somewhat untidy and loopy handwriting or Sandy's neat, large manuscript. However, to his disappointment, he was greeted by Hermione's small and tidy handwriting.

Sighing, he ripped it open and began to read her letter.

_Dear Ron, _

_ How have you been since the last time I wrote? Well, I hope. I've been enjoying France; it's fascinating! _

_ More to the point, have you heard from either of the twins? I haven't. I grew tired of waiting for them to send either Hedwig or Thunder, so I tried to mail them the Muggle way. However, I still have not received a response, and that was weeks and weeks ago. Muggle post is not that slow, whatever you may think. _

_ I'm starting to get worried. Do you think their aunt and uncle are mad at them? Do you think that your parents could check in on them or something? My parents aren't keen on leaving France early, and we aren't due to come back to England until a week before term starts. Otherwise, they'd be more than willing to check on them. Just write me back. It's good to at least hear from one of my friends. _

_ Love, _

_ Hermione _

An hour later, Ron was in his room, trying and failing to compose a letter to Sandy.

_Dear Sandy, _

_ Why haven't you or Harry written me or Hermione back all summer? Have you forgetten about us? I_

He crumpled that one up and started again.

_Dear Sandy, _

_ You haven't written me back at all. Did I scare you off at the end of last year? I'm sorry. We can still be friend. I'd much rather be friends than just nothing at all. It's quite all right _

That one, too, ended up in the trash.

He let out a loud groan of frustration. Fred and George just happened to be passing by his room at that moment. "What's got your knickers in a twist, little brother?" asked Fred, grinning at him.

Ron glared at him. "Sandy and Harry haven't written me back all summer," he grumbled, turning red. "And they promised they would. _Both_ of them."

"Well, it's not like either of them to break a promise, now is it?" reasoned George. Fred and George exchanged a conspiratorial glance. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I reckon so," said Fred, grinning wickedly.

"What," said Ron in an exasperated tone, "are you two bloody going on about?"

"Ickle Ronnie," said George, slinging an arm around his younger brother, "are you up for a little adventure tonight? To rescue your ladyfriend and your best mate?"

Ron blushed furiously again, but nodded. "But… how? Mum and Dad said they couldn't go until the weekend, and we can't come."

"We reckon it's time to take Dad's Anglia out for a spin."

AAAAAAAA

Having Sandy and Harry at his home was a dream come true. He spent every minute of every day with them, from the moment they woke up to the minute they passed out stone cold in bed. Early one morning, Sandy was taking a shower, so Harry and Ron were alone in Ron's bedroom. They had been conversing about the Chudley Cannons when Harry suddenly changed the subject. "Ron, Sandy told me about you and her."

Ron felt himself turning red, and he cursed his pale complexion and red hair. "D-did she?" he stammered out. "Should I have talked to you about it first mate? She is your sister."

"Relax, Ron," said Harry, chuckling. "She's happy that you fancy her, and I reckon you're incredibly happy that she fancies you. What more could I ask for, besides my best mate and my sister making each other happy? I do think it was good of her to put off an actual relationship, but I'm still very happy for you both."

Ron relaxed. "Thank, Harry, mate," he said weakly.

Harry suddenly became stern. "But I have to warn you- if you break my sister's heart, I _will _break your face. She's the only family I've got left."

Ron gulped so loudly that Harry could hear it.

AAAAAAA

Once the Howler stopped screaming at him in the Great Hall, Ron stormed out, red from his face down to his toes. He couldn't stand to sit there anymore, not with everyone laughing in front of him.

And perhaps worst of all, the Howler had embarrassed him in front of Sandy. He groaned in frustration.

"Ron, wait up!"

Sandy was chasing after him, her black hair trailing out behind her like a banner. Her messenger bag was slung over her shoulder, bouncing against her back as she ran. Ron paused, allowing himself to grin a bit before she caught up to him. "Hey," he said simply as she drew level with him and came skidding to a halt.

"I'm sorry about that," she said, grimacing and jerking her head back toward the Great Hall.

He frowned at her. "About what? The Howler?"

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "I'm sorry you took all the fall for stealing the car. Harry and I helped."

"Oh, don't worry about it," he said, shaking his head vigorously. "It _was_ my parents' car, I should have known better. And it was my idea, so… I deserved that, I guess."

"No, you didn't," she said, biting her lip. "It's my fault, too! And your father…"

"Don't worry about it," he said quickly, though he was anxious about his father facing an inquiry at the Ministry. "What do we have first? Herbology?"

She nodded and they began the trek down to the greenhouses side by side.

Despite the huge embarrassment he had suffered that morning, Ron felt content and incredibly happy as he walked onto the grounds next to Sandy. It was the way things were supposed to be.

IIIIIIIII

"This is… fascinating." Hermione had a tone of sick fascination to her voice as she spoke, looking around at all the ghosts around her.

"This is weird," countered Sandy, wrinkling her nose. "And I feel sick."

"They call this _music?_" said Harry incredulously, looking over at the musical saws.

Nearly Headless Nick appeared out of seemingly nowhere. "I do hope you four are enjoying the festivities," he said eagerly, nodding his head so hard that it nearly fell off his neck.

"Oh, yeah, definitely," lied Ron through his teeth, and Harry, Hermione, and Sandy nodded in agreement.

Nick smiled knowingly at him, and said, "Young Master Weasley, why don't you and Miss Potter join in the dance?"

Ron and Sandy exchanged stricken looks, while Hermione and Harry fought hard not to burst into hysterical laughter. "Oh, no, we really couldn't-" began Sandy.

At the same time, Ron protested, "No, it's okay, we should get going-"

"Oh, but I insist!" said Nick jovially.

Somewhat awkwardly, Ron extended his hand toward Sandy. She took it, blushing furiously and looking everywhere but Ron's eyes. He placed his hands on her waist, and she looped her arms around his neck. They swayed back and forth uncertainly to what they suspected was supposed to be music. "This is nice," Ron murmured, finally managing to hold her gaze.

"Yeah," she admitted in a low voice. She felt him draw her a little closer to him nervously.

"Is this okay?" he asked shyly.

She grinned at him. "Better than okay."

Hermione sighed, watching two of her best mates dancing together on the floor. "Harry, are those two ever going to get it into their heads that they belong together?"

"I dunno," Harry shrugged. "But Ron would be the only bloke I trust with my sister, so they better."

IIIIIIII

"Bloody hell, this is going to be brilliant!" Harry murmured to Ron.

Ron nodded, but he couldn't help but bite his lip and feel nervous as he watched Sandy and Malfoy bow to each other. "She will be all right, won't she?"

Hermione turned sharply to face him. "Sandy's a brilliant witch Ron, and she's more than capable of dueling an arse like Malfoy. She'll be _fine_."

He nodded.

_"Tarantallegra!_" Malfoy cast a spell before Lockhart counted to three.

Sandy's legs began to do wild dance of their own volition. Frustrated, she pointed her wand at her legs and cried, _"Finite Incantatem!_" Her legs stopped moving and she pointed her wand at Malfoy, crying, _"Rictumsempra!"_

Malfoy went flying backward several feet and landed on his ass.

Ron felt himself glow with pride. Hermione, of course, had been right; Sandy was truly brilliant.

And someday, Ron hoped, she would be his.

IIIIIII

"Here you go," Ron said, tucking Sandy in tightly. He had just gone up to the Gryffindor boys' dormitory to fetch some more blankets from his bed for Sandy, who felt cold despite the fact that she was sweating in a squishy armchair by the fire.

"Thanks, Ron," she said, smiling up weakly at him. "And thanks for staying with me while Harry and Hermione go play in the snow. It means a lot to me."

"Don't mention it," he said, sitting in the armchair next to hers. "I can play in the snow any old time. It's not very often that I get to take care of you." He thought he saw her blush, but that might have just been the fever. He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. "How are you?"

She frowned. "Worried. I'm very worried."

"About?" he pressed on, his blue eyes boring into her intently.

She shifted slightly in her seat in order to make herself more comfortable. "What do you think, Ron? This whole Chamber of Secrets business. Malfoy potentially being the heir of Slytherin… and Hermione. She's my best mate, and she's a Muggleborn. What if she gets attacked? And lots of people think Harry and I are responsible…"

He sighed. "I know, I know. Hermione… she's more than capable of taking care of herself. I think she'll be okay. And we'll take care of the Malfoy problem tonight. And… well, you know that _I_ know that you and Harry aren't behind all the attacks. Neither of you would ever do anything like that."

"Thanks, Ron," she said grinning at him. "Talking to you always does make me feel better."

IIIIIIIII

Ron woke up on the first of March, expecting a decent amount of fanfare for his birthday. However, he was disappointed to find that the entire dormitory was empty. Even Harry, his best mate, seemed to have gone down to breakfast without him.

His heart sank. Had Harry, Sandy, and Hermione forgotten his birthday? The thought of Sandy forgetting his birthday stung the most. She always remembered everything; how could she forget something like his _birthday_?

Sadly, he opened the presents from his family by himself. It was a decent haul this year; he supposed being twelve had its advantages. However, the thought that his friends had forgotten his birthday kept eating away at him. Sighing loudly to himself, he got dressed and made his way down into the common room.

A wall of noise hit him the minute he descended the stair case.

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

"W-what's all this?" he stammered happily, a wide grin spreading across his face. There was happy birthday banner hanging on the wall over the fireplace, a buffet table full of food and a large pile of presents in the middle of the circular room.

"It's a surprise party, you dolt," said Fred, suddenly appearing at his side. "Happy birthday, little brother."

It seemed like the entirety of Gryffindor house was present. Finally, Ron pulled George aside and asked, "Who put this all together for me?"

George gave him a withering look. "Who do you think?" He jerked his head meaningfully toward the squishy armchairs by the fireplace, which were currently occupied by Harry, Hermione, and Sandy.

Ron made his way over to them, grinning brightly. "Thanks," he said, beaming brightly at them. "I thought you lot had forgotten."

"Of course not, Ron," said Harry quickly, but Hermione glared at him.

"Well, Harry and I almost did," she admitted. "This was mostly a last minute thing. Dean did the banner and Fred and George nicked the food from the kitchens. But Sandy is the one who talked to everyone and put it all together. You should thank her."

Blushing furiously, Ron turned toward Sandy. "Thank you. Really."

Sandy stood up and hugged him tightly. "Happy birthday, Ronald," she breathed into his neck.

Hesitantly, he returned the hug, squeezing her just as tightly. It was his best birthday ever.

IIIIII

"Sandy?"

There was no response, so Ron ventured even further into the depths of the library. "Sandy, I know you're in here."

"I'm over here," came a muffled reply. Craning his neck, Ron saw a hand waving a few bookcases away.

He made his way over to her and found her with her nose buried in a thick book that looked like it was centuries old. He sat down across from her, but she did not look up from her book. "Sandy, Harry sent me in here looking for you. You've been in here every free moment for _days_. You've barely talked to either of us. What's going on?"

She did not reply, she merely kept reading.

Finally, he snapped, "Sandy! Will you please just talk to me?"

She looked up and shut the book quickly, and he was surprised to see tears shining in her bright green eyes. She opened her mouth as if to talk, but then her face crumpled as she burst into tears. "Hey," he said, alarmed by her crying. He moved across the table so that he was sitting next to her instead of across from her. He patted her back soothingly and she leaned into him, her tears wetting his robes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry-"

She shook her head, looking up and wiping the tears from her eyes. "No, it's not you. It's H-hermione… I m-miss her, R-ron… she's my b-best mate, and n-now she's P-petrified…" she dissolved into tears again.

He wasn't sure what to say he continued to comfort her in the library. So he went with, "Shhh, it'll be all okay."

He hoped he was right.

IIIIIIII

When the Chamber caved in, Ron panicked. Once the dust settled, he opened his eyes and realized that the only other person in sight was Lockhart. Stricken with fear, he cried, "Sandy! Harry! Where are you?"

To his great relief, Harry's voice called back, "We're over here. On the other side of this rock. We're going to go on to get Ginny. Try to shift some of this rock so we can get back through."

"Okay," he called back. "Sandy?"

"Yes?" she replied, her voice muffled by the wall of rock separating them.

He opened his mouth, but found that he didn't know what he wanted to say. He was scared; his sister was already in mortal peril, now two of best mates were as well (all of them were, if he counted Hermione being Petrified). And he could do nothing to help, save moving some rock.

"Ron, what is it?" she urged him. "We may not have much time to save Ginny."

"Nothing," he said quickly. "Just… just hurry back. And be careful."

_Because I couldn't take it if something happened to either of you._

IIIIIII

The minutes stretched into hours which stretched into years as Ron waited for the twins to return. Would they have Ginny? Would she be alive? Would the twins themselves be unscathed?

Lockhart was absolutely no company at all. He kept asking questions incessantly about his identity and location, so Ron finally just knocked him out with a rock on the back of his head.

He was sitting on the cold stone floor of the Chamber, when finally he heard a noise. He listened intently, wondering if it was the basilisk. After a moment, he realized that the noise was not slithering, but footsteps. "Who's there?" he called out nervously.

A mane of red hair came running at him. "Ron!" his sister cried, clinging to him desperately.

"Ginny!" he said, surprised and happy to see her alive and well. She looked relatively unharmed. He pulled away, biting his lip uncertainly. "Where are Harry and Sandy?"

As if on cue, the twins appeared through the hole he had created by shifting the rock, following by a brilliant colored, large bird. "There you are!" he cried. Unable to help himself, he hugged Sandy tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay."

Harry cleared his throat awkwardly. "Good to see you're okay as well, Ron."

Ron pulled away, looking embarrassed, but the joking grin on Harry's face gave him away. "Of course I'm glad you're okay too, mate," said Ron.

Looking at the twins and his sister, Ron felt like the pieces of his life were falling back into place. Harry and Sandy were safe, and they had saved his sister from Tom Riddle. The Mandrake roots were ready, and soon Hermione would be restored to her original state. He felt a wide grin spread across his face as Sandy took his hand and they, along with Harry, Ginny, and Lockhart, flew back up the pipes holding onto Fawkes.

As long as he had them, everything would be okay.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Still not mine. And I would love some reviews. –hint, hint- **

Chapter 3

"D'you want to join us, Ron?"

"Yeah, we're going to lock Big Head in a sarcophagus."

Fred and George grinned expectantly at Ron from inside the sweltering heat of an Egyptian pyramid. Wiping some sweat from his brow, he said, "No, thanks. I think I'm just going to go wait outside with Mum and Dad and Ginny. I'm burning up inside here."

"Suit yourself," said the twins together, before disappearing into the depths of the pyramid.

Ron turned on his heel and began walking toward the entrance of the pyramid. He was enjoying the trip to Egypt immensely; however, his family was starting to get on his nerves. Percy would not shut up about being made Head Boy, Ginny kept talking about Harry and how he had brilliantly rescued her from the Chamber (the way she told it, Sandy had just sat there, but Ron knew from both Harry and Sandy that that was not the case), and his parents kept fussing over the smallest of details, like his hair.

He was just at the mouth of the pyramid when he heard voices. His mum and dad were speaking in hushed tones just outside, apparently believing that they were alone, but keeping quite nevertheless. Out of curiosity, Ron paused just out of sight to listen to them.

"-so worried about Harry and Sandy," said his mother. He pictured her wringing her hands nervously. "With Sirius Black on the loose. Do you think they'll be all right?"

"Molly, they'll be at Hogwarts, with _Dumbledore_," said his father soothingly. "I'm sure they'll be fine. Nothing is going to happen to them there."

"But Black has been waiting all these years in Azkaban just to-"

"Ron, what are you doing?"

Percy appeared suddenly, making Ron jump with fright. "N-nothing," he stammered. "I thought you were looking at the pyramid still."

Though Percy was still eyeing him suspiciously, he replied, "Well, I was, but then a sarcophagus I was examining must have been cursed, because it tried to lock me inside. I decided I wasn't quite comfortable after that. Fred and George have got Ginny and they should be coming out any moment now. Come on, let's go tell Mum and Dad."

Ron wanted to throttle Percy. He had been so close to hearing his mother divulge some very important information, but now, thanks to Percy, he would never know what it was. Why was his mother so worried about the twins? What did Sirius Black have to do with them?

IIIIII

"Come on, Ron, we can go get your books from Flourish and Blotts!"

Grinning like a fool, Ron allowed Sandy to seize him by the hand and drag him down Diagon Alley toward Flourish and Blotts. After meeting up at Fortescue's, the four friends had decided that, since Hermione and Ron still needed their school supplies, Sandy and Harry would each take one of them around Diagon Alley to get the necessary materials, since the twins knew it so well after staying at the Leaky Cauldron. Naturally, Ron had immediately called dibs on Sandy.

As she pranced ahead of him on the cobblestone street, he couldn't help but admire how nicely she had grown over the summer. Both she and Harry seemed to have enjoyed a growth spurt over the holidays, and she looked about three inches taller. Ron had grown some as well, but Sandy was now up to his forehead, rather than his nose. She had also slimmed down quite a bit; not that she was overweight at all before, but the amorphous shape of a preteen had left her physique entirely. Ron could just make out some womanly curves hidden beneath the jeans and the t-shirt that she almost constantly wore outside of school. She appeared to have trimmed her hair, for it only reached her shoulders, rather than halfway down her back. In short, she seemed to have grown even more attractive during the time that they had been apart.

She stopped short in front of Flourish and Blotts, and Ron, who had been paying attention to her and not to where they were going, ran directly into her. "Ouch, Ron!" she cried, rubbing her head where they had collided. "Watch where you're going, won't you? What were you looking at anyway?"

He turned bright red. "S-sorry, n-nothing, nothing at all. Let's get my books, eh?"

IIIIIII

"Hey, Potter! _Potter!_ Look out for the dementors, maybe _they'll_ be willing to give you a little smooch. It's not like you've gotten one from any other bloke."

Pansy Parkinson sneered as she passed Sandy in the entrance hall on the first night back at Hogwarts.

Sandy's green eyes flashed. Her patience was short that night, and Pansy had just trod on her last remaining nerve. Her hand plunged inside her robes, and she drew her wand, pointing it at Pansy.

Pansy's dark eyes went wide with fright. She was more than happy to ridicule Sandy and the other Gryffindors all day and all night, but she knew she could never take Sandy in a duel; she had seen Sandy defeat Malfoy last year during the Dueling Club meeting. "You little bitch," snarled Sandy, advancing dangerously on the cowering Slytherin with every word, "I'll teach you to keep your nose out of other people's business." She opened her mouth to cast a hex, but someone suddenly gripped her arm.

"_Sandy!_" said Ron, looking surprised. His hand was wrapped around the wrist of her wand arm, and he was trying to tug her away from Pansy. "Come on, she's not worth it. You'll get in loads of trouble."

Still snarling, Sandy stowed her wand and stormed off. Ron turned back to Pansy, hissing, "You leave her the bloody hell alone, or next time, I won't stop her." He broke into a run, looking for her black head of hair amongst the throngs of Hogwarts students.

He finally spotted her and caught up to her. "Hey," he said, out of breath, as he grabbed the crook of her elbow. "What's got your knickers all in a twist?"

"What d'you mean?" she asked sharply, purposefully evading his question.

"I've never seen you snap at _any_ Slytherin like that," Ron said. "What did she say to you?"

"She made some crack about dementors," she answered, leaving out the part about kissing. She had a feeling Ron would explode if she brought that up.

"Oh," he said simply, realization dawning on his face. "I see. Look, you can't let them get to you, Sandy, they're just a bunch of-"

She cut him off. "Do you know what Harry and I heard tonight when that- that _thing_ came into the compartment and we passed out?"

He shook his head mutely. By this time, they had already reached Gryffindor Tower. Not wanting to go inside to the chaos of the common room, they strayed to a spot several feet to the right of the portrait hole. Continuing, she said, "We heard our mother, dying. We heard her dying scream."

He opened his mouth to say something, anything, to comfort her, but no words came out. There was nothing he could say.

IIIIII

"Spiders? _Spiders?_" said Sandy, chortling, as she walked with Harry, Ron, and Hermione from Defense Against the Dark Arts to lunch. "Is that really your biggest fear, Ronald?"

"Yes, and don't make fun," he said, blushing furiously.

"Do you believe him, Hermione?" Sandy asked, turning toward her best mate. However, Hermione was nowhere to be found. "Where the bloody hell did she get off to?"

Ron, however, was not paying attention. He had not been entirely truthful with her. He hated lying, but he could not bear the embarrassment of telling the truth to her, especially in front of Harry and Hermione (wherever she had gotten off to). His biggest fear was not being loved- by Harry, by Hermione… but especially by Sandy Potter, the girl he held above all others.

"Ron, are you all right?" said Harry, sounding concerned. "You look a bit pale."

"Huh?" said Ron, snapping out of his reverie. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, Harry, thanks…"

IIIIIII

"Ron, you've got to eat something."

He did not so much as blink as Hermione waved a large bar of Honeyduke's finest chocolate in front of his face. He merely stared unblinkingly at Sandy's still unmoving form in the hospital bed. He tried to alternate between watching over her and watching over Harry, but he almost invariably ended up spending much more time watching over Sandy.

Sighing loudly, Hermione sat down next to him again. "You know," she said, adopting the voice she usually saved for answering particularly difficult questions in class, "Sandy wouldn't want you to starve yourself."

He somehow managed to wrench himself away from Sandy to gape at Hermione. "W-what d'you mean by that?"

"I mean exactly what you think I mean," she said smartly, breaking off a piece of chocolate and practically stuffing it into his mouth. "I _know_, Ronald. It's no use trying to hide it from me."

When he finally swallowed the chocolate she had force fed him, he choked out, "How long have you known?" He had known for a while that Hermione knew how he felt about Sandy, but just how long had she known?

"I've known since almost the start of first year," she replied simply. "I figured it out on my own first, but then she told me one day during our second year."

"I just… she…" he said, finding himself at a loss for words.

"There's no need to explain yourself," she said, shaking her head. "She feels the same way. Just don't hurt her, Ronald. She's a strong girl, but she only has a few people that she trusts without question: Harry, you, and me, namely. Don't lose that."

IIIIII

"That'll be… Two Galleons and four Sickles."

The cashier at Honeydukes looked at him expectantly. Groaning a little, Ron began to rifle around in his pockets for money. He finally managed to give the cashier the required amount of money, but it was all he had. "Thanks," he muttered, taking the two large bags of candy from the counter. Despite the fact that he was now completely and totally broke, it would be worth it when he saw the looks on the twins' faces. He saw how upset both Sandy and Harry were when McGonagall refused to sign their permission slips for Hogsmeade, so he had decided to buy them both bulging bags of candy from Honeydukes.

"Bloody hell, Ron!" cried Hermione, spotting him outside Honeydukes where they had agreed to meet. "Did you try to buy them out?"

"No," he snorted. "These are for Harry and Sandy. I want to cheer them up when we come back from here and they've been up at the castle by themselves all day."

"Oh, that was very thoughtful of you, Ron," said Hermione brightly. Observing the bags, she smirked and said, "Let me guess- the noticeably larger bag is for Sandy?"

Turning red, he shoved her lightly. "Shut up, Hermione."

IIIIII

It was like a dark cloud had come over the twins. Ever since they had learned that Sirius Black had betrayed their parents, they were quieter and more withdrawn. Ron had been able to talk Sandy out of looking for Black that first night, but he knew that the idea of revenge had not completely left her mind. About a week after that night, he and Sandy were alone in the common room late at night, working on homework. He asked, "How are you?"

"I'm fine," she lied in a chirpy voice, not looking up from her History of Magic essay.

He sighed and shut his textbook. "Don't lie to me, Sandy. I know you too well."

She reluctantly met his eyes. "It's just that… he was their friend. You know what I think about friendship."

"Yeah, I know," he said. "You think it's like family."

"Yes, real friendship is. Family… it requires more than blood, I think. Actually, I don't think it requires blood at all. I think… I think all you need to be family is love. Unconditional love. Blood usually comes with that kind of love, but not always. Look at Harry and I and the Dursleys." She laughed mirthlessly here. "I would do _anything_ for you or Hermione or Harry. I would die for you lot. Black-"

"He goes against everything you believe," said Ron, finishing for her.

"Yes," she said, nodding.

Taking her by surprise, he hugged her tightly. "There are always going to be bad people in the world. That doesn't mean what you believe in is wrong. Don't let one bad egg shake your beliefs, Sandy. You, Harry, Hermione, and I… we are a family. And we're not going to fall apart."

IIIIIII

Jealous.

Ron was jealous. The sick emotion clawed at the base of his spine as he watched Sandy dance around the common room with the boys of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, celebrating their Quidditch Cup win. Wood should not be allowed to touch her waist, he was much older than her. Fred and George should not hug her so tightly, they knew how he felt about her.

When would she be his? These feelings of jealousy that he got whenever he saw a boy other than him or Harry so much as hug her would go away if only she were his, he knew it. What he hated was the uncertainty of their relationship. They were friends, yet they were not _only_ friends. What if she changed her mind about him? What if she started to fancy someone else? What could he say then? Yes, his jealousy would subside when and only when she was his.

But when would that be?

He had confessed his feelings for her at the end of their first year, and she had wanted to put off on a relationship. It had been almost two years. But just how long did she want to wait? Until they were thirteen? Fourteen? Fifteen? He had never bothered to ask, but now the unvoiced question was eating away at him.

When?

When?

_When?_

IIIIIII

"Get _away!_"

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Sandy were cowering away from the transformed Professor Lupin several yards from the Whomping Willow. Ron, with his broken leg, had one arm slung around Sandy's shoulders on the side of his bad leg. She was supporting him, and it was she who had spoken to Lupin. She drew her wand and pointed it at Lupin.

"Don't hurt him!" squealed Hermione.

Just then, Sirius appeared in dog form, tackling Lupin and forcing him away from them.

"Come on!" cried Harry, and they began to journey awkwardly in the direction of the castle.

Ron and Sandy struggled, him weighing more than her yet leaning against her for support. "Why don't you let Harry do this?" he muttered, as she stumbled and regained her balance yet again.

"Don't worry about it, Ron," she said. "I've got you."

_He_ should be protecting _her_, putting himself in danger for her. Instead, she was putting her ass on the line for her.

He felt like he didn't deserve her.

IIIIII

"Oh, I win- again!"

Sandy raised her arms in victory and did a small sort of jig. "That's cruel," Ron complained, trying to feign grumpiness, but giving himself away with a huge smile. "I'm hurt and you're still beating me into the ground."

"Hey," she protested, poking him playfully in the chest. "This is only the second time ever I've beaten you in wizard's chess, so don't complain."

"I know, I know," he said, laughing. He looked at her thoughtfully. "Look, I'm sorry about Scabbers- I mean, Pettigrew- getting away."

"It's not your fault, Ron," she said, sighing heavily. "I guess it just wasn't meant to be."

"And… what about us?" he said, bringing up the subject for the first time since their second year. "Are we?"

She flashed him a small smile. "We'll see."

He felt hope burgeoning inside his chest. It was these small, stolen moments alone with her that he enjoyed the most. The times when they weren't anyone special or important, they were just Ron and Sandy. They had no past, the present was all that mattered, and the future was guaranteed.

He would ask her about a relationship. And he'd do it before they left Hogwarts.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I still don't own it. Please review! **

Chapter 4

"Let's go take a walk."

Sandy suddenly jumped up from her seated position on the ground in between Harry and Hermione, looking oddly energized. Her twin groaned. "No, Sandy, I'm beat."

"Same," said Hermione, yawning widely.

Grinning, Ron stood up as well and said, "I'll go with you. Hold on, just let me tell my dad where we're going."

Ron ducked inside the tent for a moment, and Harry and Hermione both turned to Sandy with smirks plastered over their faces. "_What?_" Sandy snapped at them, folding her arms huffily.

"Oh, nothing," Hermione replied loftily, flashing her best mate a knowing look.

"You two kids behave yourselves," Harry said, still smirking.

Sandy opened her mouth to make a smart retort, but just then Ron emerged from the tent. "Ready to go?" he said, extending his arm to Sandy.

"Certainly," she replied. With one last glare at Harry and Hermione, she looped her arm through his and they started walking through the field of tents. "Thanks again for inviting Harry and me, Ron. This is… _amazing_."

"It's no problem," he said. "I wanted you two to come, of course. Wouldn't be the same without you. I missed _you_."

"Awww, I missed you too, Ronald," she said. "And Hermione, of course."

He groaned inwardly. He had been hoping that she would swallow his bait. He wanted to talk about them, about their potential relationship. She had said no at the end of third year based on the fact that she had too much going on in her life; did that still hold true now? He had no idea, because she refused to talk about it. He feared beyond all else that she had changed her mind about him and was merely too scared to tell him the truth.

Sandy was not a dolt, she knew what he was trying to do. However, she evaded the subject as best as she could. She still felt the same way about him, and she wanted to be with him eventually. But she was scared.

IIIIII

"The Triwizard Tournament," said Ron dreamily, forking some eggs into his mouth. "Wouldn't it be great to win that?"

Sandy snorted. "I dunno. Hermione was telling me about what she's read about the Tournament last night, and it sounds pretty dangerous. I'll pass. I'd just like a quiet year of school, thank you very much."

"But," said Ron, looking at her incredulously, "think about the gold! And the _glory!_"

"No amount of gold or glory is worth dying for," she replied, shaking her head and going back to her breakfast. Soon, she was immersed in a conversation with Harry and Hermione about their new class schedules.

However, Ron could not get the intoxicating idea of winning the Triwizard Tournament out of his head. He could be _rich_. Two thousand Galleons was certainly enough to support his entire family for a decent amount of time. He could be _famous_. He could be as well known as Harry and Sandy were, and not just because he was one of their best mates.

Maybe, just maybe, he could finally be a bloke deserving of Sandy.

IIIIIII

"Harry and Sandy Potter!"

It was like a hard punch to the gut when Ron heard Dumbledore call out the names of the twins. _How could they?_

Harry was his best mate, the bloke he spent all his time. They had shared a room together since they were eleven. They had shared almost everything together. Why had Harry not shared this with him? Harry already got enough glory and attention as it was. He certainly did not need the glory and attention that came with being a Triwizard champion. Nonetheless, it would not have bothered Ron if Harry had bothered to share it with him as well. Why did being best mates with Harry mean constantly being shoved to the sidelines? He was _jealous_.

And Sandy… how could _she_, of all people, not share something this important with him? They were supposed to be best mates. No, they were supposed to be more than that. Or were they? Though she had admitted to fancying him at the end of their first year, she had given very few signs of continuing to fancy him since then. And perhaps she had said so under a type of duress, hoping to salvage their friendship. He felt his stomach twist itself into a cold, hard knot. _Had she been leading him on?_

It would be the worst kind of betrayal.

IIIIII

Ron skulked into the Great Hall, alone.

Ever since his row with the twins, he had been spending most of his time either forcing himself to spend time with people he barely knew or alone. Perhaps there had been some chance of reconciliation after his fight with Harry, but not after his fight with Sandy. Something seemed to have snapped after that. Harry could not stand for Ron fighting with his sister; Sandy's happiness would always be top priority to him. Hermione was upset with him for hurting Sandy and losing her trust, when he was one of the few that she had trusted completely. And Sandy… she was refusing to talk to him completely.

He had been a fool, a complete and total asshole. Of _course_ Harry and Sandy would never put their own names into the Goblet of Fire. They had had enough trouble in the past three years to last them a lifetime; why would they go looking for more? Ron knew (judging by the Christmas and birthday gifts they had given him) that they had inherited a fair amount of gold from their parents. What did they need with two thousand Galleons? And they were the Two Who Lived, the twins who destroyed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. They already had glory.

And Sandy… she was far too good and honest and loyal to lie to him or to least him on, even if she thought doing so would save their friendship. She would never, and he knew that.

He had allowed himself to hurt the three people who meant the most to him, and the one person who meant the entire world.

He felt a small hope burgeon in his chest when he noticed that Sandy was sitting by herself at the Gryffindor Table in the Great Hall, a rare occurrence. He hastily made his way over to her and sat down next to her, hoping to make amends. "Sandy," he said, out of breath by the time he reached her, "talk to me, please-"

"Ginny, would you pass me the butter please?" said Sandy, looking away from Ron toward his sister. Ginny obliged, flashing Ron a warning look. "Thanks."

"Fine, if you won't talk, just listen then," he said, pleading. "I'm-"

Still not looking at him, she stood up abruptly, upturning her goblet of pumpkin juice as she did so. "I don't want to hear it," she hissed angrily, "and I certainly don't want to talk to you." Then she stormed off.

All hope had vanished. Those were the first words she had spoken to him in weeks, and they had been words of hatred.

IIIIII

The Yule Ball…

"Who are you going to ask?" said Harry, snapping Ron out of his reverie.

"Huh?" Ron said stupidly. "What did you say?"

Harry smirked at him. "I said, who are you going to ask? You know, to the Yule Ball?"

Ron turned bright red. "Oh," he said, running a hand nervously through his bright red hair. "I'm, uh… I'm…"

"Yes?" chortled Harry, looking at him expectantly. "Spit it out there, Ron."

"I'm going to ask your sister," he said rather quickly. He then screwed his eyes shut tightly, bracing himself for the blow that he was sure would follow.

"Oh, good," Harry replied cheerily. "She'll be very happy. I dunno why you're so nervous, Ron, she's going to say 'yes.'"

He breathed out a huge sigh of relief. "You think so?"

"I know so. She's my twin, isn't she?"

Hogwarts did not usually hold dances, and the prospect of one opened up a whole new world of possibilities for him. Since he and Sandy had made up, they had been, perhaps, closer than ever, and they spent every possible moment together. Yet… she was still holding back a relationship from him, and he wished he knew why. He didn't dare push it, he was so grateful that they were even on speaking terms once more.

But with the ball… he hoped she'd open up to him there, and they could finally make their start.

IIIIII

Ron and Sandy had been sitting in the garden for a while now, just talking and enjoying the time alone together. Sandy was laughing at Ron's impersonation of Harry talking about Hermione. Still giggling, she leaned forward, closing her green eyes happily. "That's _brilliant_, Ron," she said, gasping for breath.

"Thanks," he said, beaming happily. He reached out a tucked a lock of her black hair behind her ear. "You really do look beautiful tonight. More beautiful than normal, I mean."

She blushed slightly in the darkness. "Thanks, Ronald. That's very sweet of you."

He inched closer to her. "I really do care about you, Sandy."

"I-I," said, seeming to lose her ability to speak as his face came closer and closer to hers, "I really care about you too, Ron."

_This is it,_ Ron thought to himself. His lips were mere centimeters away from hers. He was finally going to kiss her, he was going to know what it felt like to have her lips on his.

"Miss Potter! Mister Weasley! _What_ are you doing? Fifteen points from Gryffindor! Each!"

Ron had never hated Snape more.

IIIIII

"You're sure you're okay?"

Ron peered anxiously down at Sandy, who had just nearly drowned in the Black Lake after her gillyweed had worn off.

"I'm _fine_, Ronald," she said. "You're the one who was down there for hours, and you're asking me if _I'm_ okay?"

He chuckled and sat down next to her. "I can't believe you and Harry took that song seriously though. I mean… I knew you both had a bit of a hero complex, but I mean _really_! Don't you two can't sacrifice your chance of winning!"

She raised a single black brow at him. "Winning?" she echoed. "Since when do Harry or I care about _winning _this bloody tournament? How about surviving?"

"Well, yes, obviously that too," he said quickly. "But… like Hagrid said, I think you and Harry actually have a pretty good shot of winning this thing. And that would just…"

"Just what? Be the icing on the cake? Harry and I don't need _or_ want to win this tournament!" she said, getting worked up.

"No, no!" he said, placing his hands on her shoulders to calm her down. "That's not what I meant. It would just prove everyone wrong. They think that you and Harry are only a couple of kids who always get lucky or have someone more powerful to protect you. This tournament… no one can help you and luck… doesn't even factor into the equation. And I know for a _fact_ that neither you nor Harry are lucky or have gotten loads of powerful people to save your asses."

She smiled warmly at him. "Thanks," she chirped. "That really does mean a lot to me."

He smirked at her. "So… _I'm_ what you would sorely miss, eh?"

She turned a bright red color that had nothing to do with the Pepperup Potion Madame Pomfrey had given her. "Harry's feelings factor into this too, you know."

"Mhmm. I'm sure."

IIIIII

_"Stupefy!"_

A jet of red light shot out of the end of Sandy's wand and hit Ron in the chest. He froze and fell over backward, missing the cushions that had been laid out for him and hitting the floor rather hard. "Oh, bollocks," murmured Sandy. Bending over him, she said, _"Ennervate!"_

He unfroze and groaned, "Okay, I think you've got the hang of that one, Sandy. Can we take a break?"

"Sure," she said, helping him limp into a chair. "Thanks again for helping me out."

"No problem," he said, though he was still rubbing the back of his head tenderly. A few moments of comfortable silence passed, then Ron said, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," she said. "You've been letting me Stun you for hours now. Go right ahead."

"I know you still fancy me. I believe that, I really do," he said, running a hand anxiously through his hair. "But then… why are we not already dating? Is it our age?"

She laughed out loud. "No, it's not our age, Ronald. We're fourteen, and, as you pointed out at the end of third year, there are several in our year already dating. I certainly thing we're old enough for a relationship."

Ron felt his heart rate increase wildly. "Well, what is it then? I'll fix it, I swear!"

"Calm down, will you?" she said. "It's just that… I'm scared."

"Of what?" he asked, his voice softening and he scooted closer to her. "You know that I would never intentionally hurt you, Sandy. I know that I did earlier this year and I'm very sorry, as I've already said. But I would be good to you and I would take care of you and I would always be there."

"I'm not scared of you hurting me," she said. "I'm scared of something, anything going wrong. Maybe we just don't work out, and then we can't date or be friends. And our friendship is far too valuable for that. And all these mysterious and terrible things are happening… something really horrible is coming, I can just feel it. These dreams that Harry and I have been having… they all point to something dreadful. And I'm the kind of person who attracts a lot of trouble. That'll put you into danger Ron. I just… I'm so scared."

"We can wait, love. _I_ can wait," he murmured, taking her hands in his. "This year and this tournament will end, and everything will be just _fine,_ you just wait. And as for you and me falling apart… that won't happen. Why do you think we've fancied each other for the past three years? And even if it does, we'll still always be friends. I promise. And then there will be nothing to be afraid of."

IIIII

"Hermione, I think we should go down there."

"I don't think so, Ron… look, Professor Dumbledore is going… and Fudge… and Professor Moody… and Mr. Diggory," she said, biting her lip. "We should give them their space. We'll get to Harry and Sandy soon enough."

"Hermione, Cedric is _dead!_" Ron snapped at her. "And Harry said something about V-V-You-Know-Who being back! We need to be there! We need to be with them! They _need_ us!"

Hermione suddenly frowned. "Ron… I can't see them anymore. I… I don't know where they went! They're gone!"

Raking his eyes over the front of the maze and found that she was right. The twins were gone, and so was Professor Moody.

He leapt from his seat and tore out of the stadium, racing down the stairs and toward the castle. Hermione was right on his heels, calling his name. "Ron! _Ron!_ Where are you going?"

When she finally caught up with him, he said, out of breath, "I'm going to find the twins. Something is _not_ right."

They ended up in front of the hospital wing. "It makes sense that they should be here," said Ron. Then he burst through the doors. He saw that only Madam Pomfrey and Cornelius Fudge were inside the room. He went ballistic. "Where are they? _Where are Harry and Sandy?_ TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE!"

Fudge looked affronted, standing up to face him and backing away. "Young man, you need to calm down. I understand that you have been through something traumatic this evening, seeing a fellow Hogwarts student dead-"

"_Where is Sandy?_" screeched Ron through gritted teeth.

Hermione grabbed his arms and attempted to drag him backward away from the Minister. "Ron, come on, they're not here… let's go find them!"

"Mister Weasley," said a booming voice. It was Snape. "Miss Granger. Come with me. I've been sent to fetch you."

"_I'm not going anywhere until I find Harry and Sandy!_" snapped Ron, not caring how much trouble he would get into.

"I believe I heard your bellowing all throughout the castle," replied Snape dryly. "You will come with me. I am to bring you to Professor Dumbledore who is in the company of Mister and Miss Potter."

"Come on," Hermione said softly, and, with great difficulty, she dragged Ron from the room. They followed Snape through the corridors and finally to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and into Moody's office.

"Ron," said Harry, looking haunted. "Hermione…"

Sandy burst into tears and threw herself at Ron, who wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly to him, as if he never planned to let go. "Shhh, love, shhh. I'm here."

IIIII

_"No, no, no! Don't kill him!"_

Sandy was awoken by a harsh slap to the face. "Sandy, wake _up_!" Hermione shrieked, bending over her friend with a concerned look on her face.

Her green eyes opened wide and she sat up, still sweating. "S-sorry," she stammered. "H-horrible nightmares."

"I know," Hermione said, sitting on the bed next to her. "Your screaming woke me up."

"I'm sorry," she murmured, ashamed. She shook her head.

Just then, a loud thump echoed at the bottom of the staircase. "Hermione, is Sandy okay? Say something! This _bloody_ staircase won't let me up."

Hermione chuckled and grinned sideways at Sandy. "You sure do have a dedicated boyfriend there, Sandy." Calling down to Ron, she said, "She's fine, I woke her up."

"I'm coming down there, Ron," called Sandy. "I'll be there in a moment." To Hermione, she said, "Good night, 'Mione. Thanks for waking me up. I'll see you in the morning."

"Night, Sandy. I hope you sleep better."

Sandy slid down the slide and landed at the feet of her boyfriend, who helped her to her feet. His arms immediately wrapped around her and she determinedly buried her face in his chest. "Are you okay, love?" he asked, pressing a kiss into her jet black hair. "Harry had a nightmare, so I figured you did too. And… I heard your screaming all the way over the boys' dormitory."

She grimaced in the darkness. "I'm sorry… yeah, I'm okay now, I guess. 'Mione took care of me."

"That's good, that's good," he said. He bent down and kissed her softly. "What made you change your mind about us? About not being too scared to try?"

"I realized that… life is short. And if I hold myself out of fear, I may never get the chance to do the things I always wanted to. Ron… I'm still scared of losing you. I'm scared of that beyond all belief. But more importantly, I'm scared of dying before I really live. And being with you… is an essential party of living."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: This is still not mine. Please, please leave a review! Thanks for reading! **

Chapter 5

"Sandy is going to bloody _kill_ me when she gets here."

Hermione looked up vaguely from her copy of _Hogwarts, A History_, just long enough to say, "No, she won't, Ronald. Quit worrying. Remember what Dumbledore said."

"That's easy enough for you to say!" he snapped, balling up the parchment and throwing the quill back into the inkpot with more force than was strictly necessary. "Sandy and Harry are just your _friends_. She's my _girlfriend_, she's going to be expecting me to tell her more than, 'I can't say anything, but I'll probably see you soon.' She's going to be bloody hocked off when I do see her, and I haven't seen her in ages, not since-" _Not since You-Know-Who came back_.

Hermione's facial expression softened as she sighed heavily. Snapping her book shut, she reminded him, "There is a reason why we can't tell them anything. Remember?"

"It could put them both in danger, of course I remember," he said wearily, sitting on the couch next to her. "Bloody hell, I just don't know what to say to her anymore. I want to tell her everything I know, but… I'm scared, Hermione." Hermione frowned and nodded sympathetically.

Just then, his father burst through the front door of Grimmauld Place so loudly that the portrait of Mrs. Black woke up and began shrieking.

_"FILTH- MUDBLOODS- BLOOD TRAITORS- SHAME OF MY FLESH- OH THE SHAME!"_

"Dad, what are you doing?" Ron yelled over the din, as Sirius and his mum began to attempt to silence Mrs. Black in the other room. "I thought you were working until nine."

Mr. Weasley faced his son with a grim expression. "Sandy and Harry were attacked. Dementors- in Little Whinging!"

Ron and Hermione sprang up from the couch at the same time and began screaming at once, which woke up Mrs. Black once more.

"Dad, you're bringing them here, right? _Tell me you're bringing them here now!_"

_"MUDBLOOD BRAT AND BLOOD TRAITOR BASTARDS, GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"_

"Mr. Weasley, are they okay? Were they hurt? What's going to happen now?"

"Relax, kids," Mr. Weasley said loudly as Sirius tried to shut his mother up once more. "I don't know what's going to happen yet- that's up to Dumbledore. But right now, their expulsion from Hogwarts is pending a formal hearing. They both performed the Patronus Charm in front of their cousin. They have a hearing in August."

Ron felt his heart sink to his kneecaps.

Sandy _was_ going to kill him.

IIIIII

"Ronald, staring at that clock is not going to bring Harry and Sandy back from the Ministry any faster. Get back to cleaning."

His mother whacked him in the back of the head with a rolled up copy of the _Daily Prophet _that she was preparing to throw out.

"Mum, can't we get a clock for the Order like the one we have at home? At least then we'd know where they are," he grumbled, pulling his gloves on once more and reluctantly tearing his eyes away from the clock that hung on the wall.

"I wish, but I haven't got the foggiest where to get another one," she said. "_Careful_, Ron!" she shrieked, as he picked up a heavy porcelain plate with the Black crest and dropped it as he thought he heard the front door open. The plate shattered, and Ron realized that the noise he had heard was only Kreacher skulking through the kitchen. "_Reparo!_ Maybe you _should_ just sit in your room and wait it out there, Ronald. And take Hermione with you, she's almost as big a wreck as you are."

Hermione and Ron trudged up to Harry's and Ron's room together. They shut the door so that they could talk. "Don't you want to hear when they come home?" asked Ron anxiously.

"Honestly, Ron, do you think they won't come find us and tell us as soon as they're back?" retorted Hermione. She sat down on Harry's bed. "I'm worried. Legally, they did nothing wrong. They were in a life-threatening situation. Harry saved Sandy's life, and then Sandy saved Dudley's. They broke no laws. But… but Fudge is looking for any reason to discredit them, to publicly shame them. This would be like Christmas come early for him."

"I know," said Ron glumly. "Can you imagine Hogwarts without Harry and Sandy? It'd be…" Hogwarts without Sandy would be hell on earth for Ron. He loved going to school so much because it meant spending so much time with _her_. Summer, in general, meant being away from her, which was painful. If she was expelled, when would they spend time together? How would their relationship fare if that happened?

"Awful," she finished for him. "They're our best mates, Ron. And she's your girlfriend. And Harry-"

Suddenly, they heard two sets of footsteps pounding up the stairs and the twins appeared in the doorway.

Ron jumped from his bed and immediately went to Sandy, grabbing her hands. "Well?" he asked her anxiously, his blue eyes searching her green ones.

"_WE GOT OFF!"_

IIIIIII

"Ron, you've got to come with me to the hospital wing."

Harry seized Ron by the arm and hauled him up out of the chair and toward the portrait hole. Alarmed, Ron asked, "Hospital wing? Why? What's wrong? Who's hurt?"

Harry frowned. "Sandy."

He began to panic. "What happened?"

"She and Hermione were going to Snape's office after dinner because Sandy wanted to argue with Snape about her grade on her summer essay and she did not want to go alone. Hermione says that someone hexed Sandy from behind. She says it was Malfoy." Harry's voice was shaking with fury.

Ron found his hands had clenched themselves into fists of their own accord. "Were there no teachers around? Or prefects? They can't ignore that!"

"The Slytherin prefect turned a blind eye," Harry said, enraged. "But that Umbridge bat was there- she said- she said that Malfoy did it by _accident_ and that he won't be punished."

"_What?_" spat Ron angrily. "I'll have her head on a platter-"

They were at the doors of the hospital wing now. "You need to calm down," Harry told him firmly. "She's really upset- it's pretty bad. Madam Pomfrey is trying to look up the hex and the counter. It isn't one she recognizes."

Sandy's back was to them as they went through the doors. Hermione seemed to be holding her hand and she was saying, "Shhh, it's okay, Sandy. Madam Pomfrey can sort anything out, she'll find the countercurse soon enough." When she saw them, she looked past Sandy and said, "Harry's back. He brought Ron."

"Sandy," Ron called softly, but she did not turn to look at him. "Love, look at me, please."

She shook her head and let out a small cry. Ron flashed Harry a bewildered look.

"Erm, Hermione, let's give these two some privacy," said Harry. Hermione stood and joined them. "We'll be just outside if you need us."

Ron cautiously approached Sandy. "Come on, Sandy, look at me. It's only me."

But she refused and hid her face from him, covering it with her hands. "Please," he said beseechingly. "I love you."

Reluctantly, she let him pry her hands from her face. The hex had rearranged her facial features into a Picasso-esque image. Her nose was where her mouth should be, and her mouth had taken the place of her eyes. One eye was on her forehead, and the other was on her chin.

Ron fought to keep a horrified expression of his face. Instead, he said, "Oh, love. Is this why you didn't want me to see you?"

She nodded, still crying. He wiped the tears from her eyes, a difficult task given that they were so far apart. She pointed to her mouth and shook her head, indicating that she could not talk while her face was like this.

He nodded and said, "It's okay. You're still beautiful to me. Madam Pomfrey will sort you out, don't you worry. I _love_ you."

She made a garbled sort of noise as if to say it back.

_I'll make Malfoy pay for this, if it's the last thing I do_, he promised himself silently. _And that foul Umbridge bitch_.

IIIIII

Ron was having trouble sleeping.

Every night, he had dreams about her. About losing her, about her being hurt, being tortured, being killed.

And about him being unable to do anything to help.

Where had he been when Malfoy hexed her? Sitting in the Gryffindor common room, laughing at Fred's and George's Skiving Snackboxes. And not with her.

Where was he during her and Harry's detentions with Umbridge? In the common room, doing homework. And not with her.

Not protecting her, like he was meant to.

He could not even convince her _or_ Harry to talk to Dumbledore about the torture that Umbridge was putting them through. And what of his vow to make Malfoy and Umbridge pay for that hex? He had yet to make good on that.

What kind of boyfriend was he? He felt that she deserved much better than him.

He felt sick to his stomach as he thought of the next day's Quidditch match. He was a shabby Keeper at best. At the moment, he was nowhere near his best. He was worried sick about Sandy. She kept getting hurt.

And he could not let that continue to happen.

What if, one day, she did not recover?

He could not afford to lose her. He was far too emotionally invested in her for that now.

If he lost her, he would lose _everything_.

IIIII

"How do we know that you two aren't just making this all up?" asked Zacharias Smith snarkily.

Harry and Sandy glanced at each other, flummoxed. How were they supposed to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts to a bunch of people who thought they were lying, attention hogs?

"Look," said Ron irritably, tired of watching people question his girlfriend, "you're all here because you said you were interested in learning from them. This is not a Q & A session. Harry and Sandy have been through quite enough the past several months without you lot giving them the third degree. So shut it! And if I catch any of you lot giving my girlfriend the eye again, I _will_ shove my foot so far up your arse, you'll need to go Madam Pomfrey to have it removed."

The small gathering of students fell completely silent at his outburst. Sandy flashed him a grateful smile and grasped his hand under the table, squeezing it tightly. He grinned.

Finally, Fred said, "Well, now that we all know that Ron's the possessive type, shall we discuss when and where to meet?"

Half an hour later while Harry and Hermione were manning the sign-up sheet, Ron and Sandy wandered over to an abandoned corner. "Thanks," Sandy said under her breath. "They were tearing us apart out there."

"It's no problem, love," he said, draping an arm around her shoulders. "I'm supposed to take care of you and protect you. It's part of the whole boyfriend job."

She grinned at him and planted a wet kiss on his cheek, making him go bright red.

"What are you two lovebirds doing in the corner?" called George, grinning roguishly at them. "You come over here and help out!"

Ron and Sandy made their way over to the twins. "Hello, future sister-in-law," said Fred, shoving Ron aside and putting his own arm around Sandy.

"Fred, you flatter me," she said dryly, rolling her green eyes at him.

"Oh, but it's true!" insisted George. "If Ickle Ronniekins had his way, you two would be getting hitched this summer. But of course Mum would have a cow-"

"-and a pig-"

"-and a horse-"

"-the whole barn, in fact!" finished Fred.

Ron was blushing furiously, but one thought kept circling through his mind. _Mrs. Sandy Weasley_.

Yeah. That sounded good to him.

IIIIII

He felt completely and totally numb. Everything going on around him was a giant blur. The trip from Gryffindor Tower to Dumbledore's office, the Portkey- none of it made much sense to him, all the he knew was that his dad had been attacked.

He had woken to the sounds of Harry screaming, something that had been happening more and more frequently this school year. He had woken Harry, who had promptly vomited at Ron's feet. After Ron Vanished the puke, Harry had exclaimed, "Your dad! He's been attacked!"

Almost immediately, Hermione had appeared in the doorway, dragging a pale and weak looking Sandy along with her. She told a similar story. Neville fetched McGonagall and then… well, everything was a blur.

He should've known this would happen sooner or later; he should have been expecting this. Half his family was in the Order of the Phoenix, and what a large family it was too. It was probable that _someone_ he cared about would be attacked. He just didn't expect it so soon, and not so close to Christmas.

Sandy was the only thing anchoring him to his sanity. He felt like a foolish small child as he latched on to her, his hands forming a vice-like grip on her clothing. But if she was put off by this or scared, she said nothing. She only held him closer and stroked his hair. At first, she whispered soothing things in his ear occasionally, like, "Shhh, it'll be all right" or "Don't you worry, Ron, I'm right here." But as the hours wore on, it talked stopped. Words failed her, and she just kept holding him to her, her hands comforting him as best as she could.

It was more than enough.

She was his rock.

IIIIIII

"Merry Christmas, Sandy."

Ron handed her a poorly wrapped box, one that he had obviously taken the time to wrap himself. She smiled warmly at him and replied, "Marry Christmas to you too, Ronald." She handed him a gift bag.

Both grinning goofily, they opened their presents in the dim light provided by the Christmas tree.

"Oh, Ron," she breathed, opening her present. "This is _beautiful_." In a blue velvet jewelry box lay nestled a heart-shaped emerald pendant on a necklace. "Thank you."

"It matches your eyes," he said, helping her put it on by snapping the clasp behind her neck. Observing her for a moment, he murmured, "It looks even more beautiful on you." He then returned to his present. Opening it, he found-

"Season tickets to the Chudley Cannons!" he exclaimed, his eyes practically bugging out of his head. "Sandy, how-?"

"Don't worry about it," she said, shaking her head. "And I won't worry about where you got the money for _this_." She fingered the necklace laying on her collarbone. "I remember how much you liked the tickets I gave you during first year, so I got you season tickets for this season."

"This is perfect," he breathed happily. _You are perfect. We are perfect._

IIIII

Ron leaned over the wastebasket Sandy had conjured up and vomited a colorful rainbow of sick. "I can't do it, Sandy," he said weakly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as she wiped the sweat from his brow with a washcloth. "I just _can't_ do it. I'm too nervous- and you and Harry won't even be playing tomorrow! I can't! I'm a bloody wreck!"

They were sitting in the Gryffindor common room at nearly one in the morning of the day of the Quidditch Cup match in which Ron would be playing Keeper for Gryffindor. "You _can_ do it, Ronald," she told him firmly, pushing some damp hair back from his forehead. "This is all just nerves. You're a fantastic Keeper, trust me. You just let your nerves and insecurities get in the way. You need to push them out of your mind."

He looked at her with desperate blue eyes. "Why did you and Harry have to get yourselves suspended from the team?"

Her green eyes flashed in the darkness. "Because that foul old Umbridge hag has it out for us, and you know that. She was _looking_ for any reason to punish Harry and me."

"Right, I know," he groaned. "I'm just so bloody nervous, whenever I even think about the match, I-" He turned a sickly green color and heaved, clapping a hand over his mouth. She held the bucket up to his face, and he puked once more.

"Thanks," he said weakly once he was done.

"You're going to do great, Ronald," she said, placing a sweet kiss on his cheek. "I know it."

He looked at her imploringly. "You'll be there to watch and support me, right?"

She smiled softly and took his hand, pressing a kiss to it. "Every minute of the bloody match."

IIIII

It was after dinner, and Ron was making his way back to Gryffindor Tower alone.

Sandy and Harry had an Occlumency lesson with Snape, and Hermione was camping out in the library as the O.W.L.s were drawing near. He had his head down and his hands in his pocket as he walked, hoping that one of his mates would show up soon and that Snape wasn't being _too_ terrible to the twins.

Suddenly, a sickeningly familiar head of blonde hair caught his attention and his head snapped up so quickly that it hurt. Malfoy was walking in the corridor just several yards ahead of him, also by himself. They were alone in the corridor.

Ron smiled wickedly to himself. Now was the perfect time to make good on his promise to make Malfoy pay.

"Oi, Malfoy!" he called, reaching into his pocket for his wand.

Malfoy whipped around, searching for who had called him. When his eyes landed on Ron, his steely gray eyes narrowed and he said, "Oh, it's just you, Weasley. I thought it was someone actually important."

"You think hexing my girlfriend while her back is turned is funny, do you?" Ron snarled, advancing on Malfoy with his Ron drawn.

"Well, you see," said Malfoy, his signature smirk plastered on his pale face, "she was walking with that Mudblood Granger, and they were both so ugly that I just couldn't tell which was which! I was actually aiming for Granger, so my apologies, Weasley. I really am sorry that your girlfriend is so ugly she makes that Mudblood look pretty."

Screaming with rage, Ron seized the front of Malfoy's robes and threw him against the wall. Draco's eyes widened in fear as he realized that Ron meant business. "_Don't_," spat out Ron through gritted teeth, "call Hermione that! And _don't_ call either of them ugly! Especially. Not. Sandy!" With each word he shook Malfoy against the wall, making a racket. He needed to make this quick, or someone was sure to walk in on them.

"What are you going to do about it, Weasel?" asked Malfoy snarkily. "I don't remember you being there to protect her."

He had done; Malfoy had said the one thing Ron couldn't bear to hear.

Ron lost it. Throwing caution and magic to the wind, he threw his wand to the ground and headbutted Malfoy. Slightly dazed, he drew back his fist and punched Malfoy in the nose, feeling the satisfying crunch of Malfoy's nose breaking.

Malfoy sunk to the ground against the wall, and Ron prepared to kick him in the groin, when-

"_Mister Weasley, what are you doing?_"

It was Umbridge.

Several hours later, Ron stumbled into the Gryffindor common room, clutching his bleeding left hand. "Ron!" Sandy gasped, running up to immediately.

"Merlin," breathed Hermione, "I'll go get my essence of murtlap."

"What happened, mate?" asked Harry anxiously as Sandy helped Ron into a chair and wiped some of the blood off of his hand with her sleeve.

"Umbridge," Ron replied darkly. "She put me in detention. For the rest of the week as well."

"Detention?" Sandy and Harry echoed unanimously. "For what?"

"She caught me beating up Malfoy in the corridor after dinner," he replied. Hermione reappeared with a bowl of murtlap. Ron took it from her, saying, "Thanks, Hermione." He sank his hand into it, heaving a huge sigh of blissful relief.

"Why were you beating up Malfoy?" Sandy asked cautiously.

He looked at her like she was daft. "I had to make him pay for hexing you while your back was turned. I couldn't just let him get away with that. I'll always have your back, Sandy."

IIIII

Ron sighed heavily and scratched his quill against his head. He had just about given up on his History of Magic exam.

Flipping through the booklet to go back over the questions he had missed, he read:

_Which goblin led the Decembrist Goblin Uprising of 334?_

He groaned and shut the booklet. He was definitely done.

Glancing to his left, he chanced at quick look at Sandy to see if she was done yet. Sandy

was slumped over in her seat, her face twitching. Starting to panic, Ron glanced at Harry to his right. Harry was also apparently passed out, wearing the same facial expression he did when he had nightmares.

He opened his mouth to alert the proctor, but he was saved the trouble by the twins waking up.

"_Sirius!_" screamed Harry, and Sandy fell over sideways out of her seat and onto the floor with a loud crash.

Hermione and Ron exchanged bewildered and concerned glances. What was wrong with Harry and Sandy?

The proctor soon escorted the twins from the Great Hall, and Ron was left to bite nails and worry. When they were finally released, he and Hermione took off at a dead run. They found the twins in the Gryffindor common room. "What's wrong?" he asked breathlessly. "You looked like you passed out during the exam."

"We did," said Sandy.

"Voldemort's got Sirius," said Harry urgently. Ignoring the stunned looks on their faces, he continued, "He's got him, and he's going to kill him. We've got to do _something_!"

"Harry, what if," said Hermione slowly, "what he's just using Sirius as bait?"

"We have to do something," said Sandy, looking imploringly from Hermione to Ron. "Please. Other than each other, he's the only family that Harry and I have."

She looked both hopeful and despairing at the same time. Sirius was one of the few members of her dwindling family. Ron could only imagine what it would do to him if someone used someone in his family or Harry, Hermione, or- Merlin forbid- Sandy as bait for him. He could not say no to her; it would destroy her, which in turn would destroy him.

"Well, I'm fairly sure it's a trap. But we should go. You're right. We do need to do _something_."

IIIII

Ron watched in horror as Harry threw himself onto his back. Harry sat straight up and said, green eyes wide with terror, "Sandy! He's going after Sandy!"

Ron felt fear clutch with icy fingers at his heart. Voldemort had just attempted to possess Harry, and now, apparently he was going to go after Sandy. "Where is she?" he asked urgently, dropping to his knees on the floor next to his best mate.

"Voldemort- he tried to turn me against her, he knew she would not fight back against me no matter what," Harry said, out of breath. "He was torturing her through me… Dumbledore _made_ her leave, she didn't want to leave my side. Dumbledore locked her in the elevator."

Ron took off at a full sprint. He had to find her, he had to help her. He reached the elevator, and, peering through the grill, he saw Sandy huddled in a corner, her back to him. "Sandy!" he called desperately, pulling at the grill. It was locked. _"Alohomora!"_ He slid the grill to the side viciously and cautiously approached her. "Sandy…" he said softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right?"

She stood up and whirled around to face him, snarling. It was Sandy, but as he looked into her eyes, he knew that it was not really her. They were still her green eyes, but they were darker. The pupils were almost pinpricks, so that her eyes were unnaturally almost completely green. The voice that spoke when her lips moved was certainly not her voice, as she said, "Get away from me!" She pointed her wand at him.

He held his hands up defensively, but did not back away. "Relax, it's only me, Sandy. I just want to help-"

"_I don't need your help!_" she screeched, her face contorting into some odd livid expression. _"Crucio!"_

Knives of white hot pain stabbed at his body, knocking him flat onto the ground. After several seemingly endless, pain-filled moments, the curse lifted. Ron picked himself off the ground and stood up, with great difficulty. "Sandy," he croaked, his voice hoarse from the effort of not screaming out with pain, "it's me. It's Ron. Your redheaded… poor… quirky… protective… and possessive boyfriend. I know you recognize me."

A flicker of recognition flickered across her face. She lowered her wand. In the background, Ron could hear the sounds of Harry struggling to get to his sister, but he deduced that someone must be holding him back, most likely Hermione or Dumbledore.

There was a shift in the atmosphere as Voldemort changed tactics. Realizing that he would not be able to turn Ron and Sandy against each other, he tried another strategy. She dropped her wand and collapsed to the ground, her face contorting with pain.

"Sandy," Ron said, dropping to the ground next to her and gathering her wildly twisting body in his arms. "Sandy, Sandy, what is it?"

"My fault," she croaked, seemingly in response to his question, but for all he knew, she was talking to herself. "Sirius- dead- my fault! Distracted him- better Occlumens than Harry, should have known… never should have come here! My fault, my fault, _my fault!_" Tears were pouring down her face as her voice rose in volume.

"No, it's not," he said, raising his voice so that he could be heard over her. "It's not your fault, it's not."

"MY FAULT!" she insisted, screaming in anguish.

"LISTEN TO ME!" he bellowed, cradling her head and rocking back and forth. Tears were pouring down his face as well as he spoke. "I _love_ you, Sandy Potter. Do you hear me in there? I _love_ you. I always have, and I always will. And I _know_ that you love me too. And no one- not even _him_- and nothing can come in between us. Come back to me. Come back. _Please_. Just come back." His voice cracked as he held her tightly to him.

Her body suddenly went limp in his arms. It was as if someone had muted the sound of the entire building. Sandy opened her eyes, and they were normal again. She was back.

IIIII

"I'm forever in your debt, mate."

Ron cocked his head curiously at Harry. They were the only two awake in their dormitory, so it was necessary to keep their voices down. Frankly, both of them had been having trouble sleeping since the scuffle at the Ministry. Harry had been because of the loss of Sirius. Ron had been dreaming of Sandy being possessed by Voldemort and never breaking free. "Why's that?" Ron asked softly.

"You saved her," Harry said, turning over in his bed so that he was facing Ron's bed. "When Voldemort tried to possess her, _you_ saved her."

"No, mate," Ron said, shaking his head. "She did that on her own."

"Look, Ron, speaking as someone who knows what it's like to have Voldemort try to possess you, breaking free is not an easy task," he replied. "You need something to remind you of who _you_ are and why you are _not_ like him, why you have a reason to live. You did that for her. Besides… Voldemort can't stand or understand love, especially one as unconditional as what you and my sister have."

"Well," said Ron, "you make it sound like I did something really great. I was just… I was just protecting her."

"I know," said Harry, "I used to think that was my job, and my job only."

Ron was silent for a moment. Then he said, "Well, mate, maybe you don't have to do everything by yourself, you know?"

"Yeah, maybe," Harry murmured.

"H-harry," Ron said. Why was he doing this now? He couldn't believe he was doing this. Those brains in the Department of Mysteries must have addled _his_ brains.

"Yeah, Ron?"

"What d'you think of me marrying Sandy?" he asked quickly. He heard Harry shift quickly in his bed, so he added hastily, "Not _now_, of course. I mean… later. In several years. When we grow up a bit."

"Yeah… yeah, mate. One day… I think you and her belong together. And I actually trust you with her."

Harry's words made Ron ecstatic.

Meanwhile, Harry was wistful, thinking of the prophecy, and hoping that Ron would actually get a chance to marry Sandy.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I still don't own it. Please, please review! **

Chapter 6

"What do you mean, 'Neither can live while the other survives'?" Ron croaked out, his eyes burning.

Ron and Sandy were sitting in the dark of his bedroom, quite alone. The romance of their situation had been totally lost upon Sandy, who had been intent on telling Ron about the prophecy since she and Harry arrived at the Burrow. At that very moment, Harry was informing Hermione of their fate as well.

"It means exactly what it sounds like," she said softly, looking everywhere but at Ron. "It means… either Harry and I have to kill Voldemort, or he is going to kill us."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" he asked sharply.

"Because Harry and I weren't sure if we were supposed to tell anyone," she replied patiently. "But just before we came here, Dumbledore told us that Harry and I are going to be taking private lessons from him this year, and that we could- and we _should_- share everything we know with you and Hermione."

Ron took a moment to ponder this new information. "But… but…" he said, with the air of a man grasping at smoke, "you said the prophecy refers to 'the one' with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord? Well, that can't possibly be you and Harry, there are two of you!"

"That's what Harry said when Dumbledore told us," Sandy sighed. "But no one really knew that there were going to be two of us. Dumbledore isn't even entirely sure that our parents knew that they were having twins. Voldemort thought that he was only going after Harry, he had no idea that I existed. But when he discovered me, he figured it was best to just kill us both off, since the prophecy doesn't specify gender. He tried to kill us both with one curse. He marked us both as his equals. That's why Crouch put our names on the same piece of parchment into the Goblet of Fire in our fourth year. He had to make sure that we would be delivered to Voldemort _together_. He couldn't risk having to deliver us separately. Besides… even if it was just Harry… I couldn't let him do this alone, Ron. He's the only family I have left. He and I… we're sticking together. No matter what. Please try to understand that."

Ron nodded numbly. He didn't know what to think, he didn't know what to feel. He knew that Sandy would always be in some sort of danger while Voldemort was alive, but he wasn't sure that he had expected this. A near death sentence? A demand that she kill him or be killed herself? "It's just not fair," he whispered hoarsely. A few tears leaked out of his eyes.

"Please don't cry, Ronald," she murmured, wiping the tears away with her sleeve gently.

"It isn't fair," he repeated. "We haven't even had two years together! I wanted us to have days, weeks, months, years…! I didn't think I would have to give you up, not after I already had you. Why?"

"Ron…" she said gently. "Look, I've been thinking. Maybe we should br-"

He cut her off. "No!" he said fiercely. "Don't you say it! You may think you'd be protecting me by breaking things off, but that would just make everything ten times worse."

"You're in a lot of danger by being this close to me," she told him softly. "And… my future isn't a guarantee anymore. I'm not sure it ever was."

He swallowed hard, forcing himself not to cry out. _The future_. He had had so many plans for them in the future. Finishing school together, graduation, living together, careers, making lives together, getting married, having their own family… he hadn't even worked up the nerve to share these fantasies with her yet. And now his dreams were gone, crushed by the invisible hand of a prophecy made by their mad professor. He felt robbed. His greatest treasure was being stolen by cruel destiny.

When he felt sure that he could speak without bursting into hysterical sobs, he said darkly, "I don't care about the danger. You're more than worth it, and I'm in danger with my family in the Order anyway. And as for the future not being a guarantee… we'll work through it, love. You're the one who said at the end of fourth year that the reason you changed your mind about being too scared to try for a relationship was because you did not want to die with regrets, and life is short. I know that _I_ would die with regrets if we broke up. Don't tell me that you wouldn't as well."

She sucked in a deep shaky breath. "You're right. I would regret it very much. I just… I don't want you to get hurt even more… if Harry and I… if we… if things don't end well."

He laughed mirthlessly. "It's too late for that, love."

"Then promise me one thing," she said, her green eyes piercing in the darkness.

"What?"

"If I _do_ die," she said, "promise me you'll move on."

"Sandy, I could never love anyone else. I can never feel this way for someone else. It's always been you. _Only_ you," he said, shaking his head fiercely.

"At least… at least promise me you'll move on to being happy again," she said imploringly. "I can't do this knowing that I'd only leave you in a perpetual state of depression."

"I'll do my best." He felt himself shaking.

She began to rise from the bed, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back down. "Please don't go," he begged, hugging her tightly. "Please… just _stay_."

"Ron…" she said softly, her voice trailing off.

"Please," he murmured, kissing her lips gently. "Just for a moment. I just need to be with you."

"All right."

IIIII

"It says that Professor Slughorn wants us to meet him and have lunch in his compartment," read Hermione. "Well- this will be an interesting opportunity to get to know him, won't it?"

"Yeah, I'm sure it will," said Ron bitterly, folding his arms and staring out of the window of the train determinedly. "You three just run along and go have lunch with good ol' Sluggy now."

Harry, Sandy, and Hermione exchanged worried glances, and Hermione bit her lip. Sandy caught her twin's eye and jerked her head at the compartment door, as if to say, _You two go ahead, I'll meet up with you there_.

Harry got the message. "Come on, Hermione, let's get a move on, or all the good food will be gone." He and Hermione left hand in hand.

Sandy turned to Ron. "Ron?" Sandy said hesitantly. "What's bothering you?"

"Oh, nothing," he said, putting on a falsely cheery voice. He had been going out of his way lately to enjoy every single moment he possibly could with her. He avoided being grumpy around her and the petty little arguments that every couple experiences from time to time. If she really was going to die fighting Voldemort, he wanted to have loads of happy memories to cherish. When she was gone, they would be all he would have left. "Nothing is wrong, I'm just fine. Why don't you go?"

"Because I know you," she said, inching closer to him. "And your acting can't fool me. So please don't lie to me again. What is it?"

He sighed loudly and turned to face her. "It's just… I feel like you, Harry, and Hermione always get all the attention. It's not your fault of course. You and Harry are both famous and you're both incredibly talented. And Hermione eats textbooks over the holidays, I swear. But I just… I feel overshadowed. At home, by my brothers, and sometimes even by my own mates. And I feel left out." He looked down at his hands sadly.

Looking at him, Sandy considered her options. She could leave and go to Slughorn's lunch. She knew he would not hold it against her, no matter how left out he felt. Or…

She stood up and locked the compartment door shut. "What are you doing?" he asked, cocking his head at her curiously. "Aren't you going to Slughorn's?"

"No," she said brightly, sitting down next to him and kissing his cheek. "I'd much rather say here with you."

He smiled so wide that his cheeks began to hurt.

IIIII

Ron was being dragged to Slughorn's office against his will, but how could he fight against his girlfriend? He had tried at first, but she had only tightened her grip and kept walking toward the dungeons with fierce determination. Once they reached the door, she knocked loudly on it, keeping a tight grip on his sleeve.

Professor Slughorn opened the door and his eyes grew wide with surprise. "Miss Potter! Mister Weasley! What a pleasant surprise this is! What brings you down to my office at this hour?"

Ron turned bright red and muttered into Sandy's ear, "You really don't have to do this, love, it's quite all right-"

She stomped on his foot to quiet him, and he stifled a yelp. "Professor," she said smoothly, turning up her charm and smiling up at Slughorn, "I- we- came here to talk to you about why Ronald isn't in the Slug Club."

"Oho!" said Slughorn. "Miss Potter, you know that the Slug Club is by invitation only, and that-"

"Professor," she said sweetly, though she cut him off rather rudely, "I fail to understand why Ronald has not received an invitation. Ginny is his younger sister, did you know that? And Harry and Hermione are his best mates. And I am his girlfriend. And he has gone on nearly every dangerous undertaking that Harry and I have, and he's proven himself very talented and intelligent. In our _first_ year at Hogwarts, he got us past a wizard chess set that Professor McGonagall herself had Transfigured to life-size! How does he _not_ merit an invitation?"

"Hmmm," said Professor Slughorn, looking thoughtful. "You make a good case, as always, Miss Potter. I knew very little about Mister Weasley until just now. Although, I should have known that you would hardly choose to date someone with little potential!" He turned his gaze on Ron, as though sizing him up. "Yes, well, why not? You'll get an invitation to the next of my little dinners, Mister Weasley. I'm glad Miss Potter pointed you out to me. That's a necessary quality in a leader, that is!"

When they were making their way back to Gryffindor Tower, holding hands, Ron asked her quietly, "Why did you do that? You didn't have to."

"Oh, I know I didn't _have_ to," she said simply. "But I _wanted_ to. I knew it was bothering you, and you deserve to be in there anyway. You've done some really fantastic things, Ronald, and you deserve recognition for them. You deserve to be recognized and admired in your own right, not just because you're Harry Potter's best mate or Sandy Potter's boyfriend."

He smiled at her brightly. What did he ever do to deserve someone as wonderful as her? He kissed her swiftly and said, "I love you."

She looked slightly surprised by the sudden kiss and declaration, but nevertheless, she replied, "I love you, too."

IIIIII

"Malfoy _is_ a Death Eater, I'm certain of it! Harry is, too!"

Ron and Sandy were alone in the empty common room, feet apart from each other, arguing. Harry had brought up the idea of Malfoy being a Death Eater with Ron and Hermione again, and it had not gone over well. He and Hermione had gone to bed, leaving Sandy and Ron to argue.

"Well, that doesn't say much now, does it?" Ron countered. "You and Harry _always_ side with each other."

"_That is not true!_" she insisted fiercely, growing red in the face with anger. "Who was the one who told him off for acting like a tosspot at the Yule Ball? That was me! Who was the one who argued with him about taking that flying Ford Anglia of your father's to Hogwarts in second year? That was _me_! I don't automatically take sides with my brother, it just so happens that we oftentimes agree!"

Ron snorted doubtfully. "That's not what it looks like from here."

"Then tell me what it _does_ look like, Ronald!" she hissed. "Harry and I think very alike, probably because we're _twins_. You have noticed that Fred and George, who, if I may point out, are also twins, think very much alike as well? I may not always agree with Harry, but most of the time, I do! You've seem to got some sort of an issue with how I interact with my brother, and you better work that out. Because if you expect me to pick between you and Harry, well-! That won't end well."

He gaped at her. "Are you saying you'd pick Harry over me?"

She turned a deeper shade of red. "Think about what you're asking me to do, Ronald! _Choose_ between the boy I love and my _twin brother_, the only family I've got left! I can't do it! It would quite literally destroy me! But if that's what you want, so be it! I hope you're bloody well happy."

With that she stormed out of the common room via the portrait hole.

Ron hesitated a moment, then he followed her quickly.

"Sandy!" he hissed quietly. She paid him no heed and continued walking briskly in the opposite direction. "Sandy, we're going to get in trouble! It's nearly two in the morning!"

"Well, you're quite free to go to bed, I'm not going to stop you," she said, sniffing angrily.

Finally, catching up to her, he pleaded, "Sandy, don't do this to me. Please." He caught hold of her wrist and forced her to turn and face him.

She glared, green eyes flashing. "_What?_" she asked. "Don't do _what_, exactly? Choose Harry over you? I couldn't possibly do that. But I couldn't possibly choose you over him either. I want _both_ of you. I _need_ both of you. I couldn't possibly choose."

"Okay, love," he said. "Okay. I'm sorry. I was wrong… and I'm sorry. You don't have to choose. You shouldn't have to choose."

"Fine," she said, sniffing, and he got the vague impression that she had been crying when she ran from the common room. "Let's get to bed." She turned on her heel and began walking back toward the common room.

"Sandy…" he said cautiously, "are you… are you still mad at me?"

She paused a moment, then she slipped her smaller hand into his larger one. "No, I'm not, Ronald. I love you."

"I love you too," he murmured back, relieved.

He still didn't understand her relationship with Harry. Perhaps he would always take a back seat to her twin brother.

IIII

Ron was watching Harry and Sandy speak with Rufus Scrimgeour (the Minister of Magic, in his very own garden!) from the doorway. His blue eyes were trained intently on the three distant figures, who appeared to be deep in conversation. Though he could vaguely hear their voices, he could not make out a single word they were saying. He saw Harry raise his left hand, showing the back of it to the Minister. What was Harry doing?

"What d'you reckon they're talking about?" asked a voice suddenly, startling him. Hermione was leaning against the opposite side of the doorway, her eyes also following the twins and Scrimgeour.

"I dunno," he admitted. "Can't hear a word from here. It looks like it's getting heated though…"

Sandy was now making wild gestures as she spoke, something Ron knew she only did when she was incredibly worked up about the topic at hand.

"Yeah, it does," Hermione agreed, squinting into the distance.

Suddenly, Harry raised his voice and they were able to hear him say, "You fire that bloody bat, and then we can have a talk, Minister! Until then, we will _not_ represent the same Ministry that tortured us for telling the truth!"

"Uh-oh," muttered Ron. "I think it's time we step in…"

He and Hermione broke into a brisk walk toward them. When Scrimgeour caught sight of them, he said, "Mister Weasley, Miss Granger. I'm sure you appreciate that this conversation is between myself and Mister and Miss Potter here, and as such, you two should really-"

"I think you've overstayed your welcome, Minister," Ron said coldly. "The path is the quickest way off of my family's property."

Scrimgeour looked affronted. "Mister Weasley, you are aware that your father works for me, aren't you?"

"I'm well aware," sneered Ron. "I think you've pestered Harry and Sandy long enough. Please leave. Now."

"I must insist-" started Scrimgeour, but Ron cut him off once more.

"If you continue to bother my girlfriend and best mate, or anyone else here, with your presence, I will be forced to abandon my pleasant attitude," he said through gritted teeth. "Good _day_, Minister."

Still looking affronted, Scrimgeour collected Percy from within the Burrow and they both Disapparated.

"Wow," whistled Hermione, her eyebrows raised high on her forehead. "What's that, the second Minister of Magic you've verbally assaulted for Sandy?"

Sandy turned bright red. "Who was the first?"

"Fudge, of course," Hermione told her. "You weren't there. I'll tell you about it later." Turning to Ron, she said, "They'll be chucking you in Azkaban any day now, I expect."

IIIII

The first thing Ron was aware of was a pair of emerald green eyes hovering directly over him.

After nearly six years of being friends with the Potter twins, Ron had learned their various differences and their numerous similarities.

The eyes in question were certainly Sandy's eyes, for hers were more almond in shape than were Harry's.

"Ron," called a seemingly distant voice. A voice that he knew and loved. "Ron, can you hear me?"

He slowly became aware of his surroundings. He was lying on a hospital bed in the infirmary. Sandy was hovering over him anxiously, and Harry and Hermione were sitting to the left of his bed. "Sandy," he croaked out, finding the use of his voice very difficult at the moment.

"Oh, thank Merlin," she breathed, looking extremely relieved. "You're _okay_."

"You gave us a right good turn, mate," added Harry, looking nervous as he ran a hand through his already messy jet black hair.

"What happened?" Ron asked hoarsely. "The last thing I remember was… taking Harry down to Slughorn's."

Harry flashed Sandy a sharp look, indicating that he did not wish for her to tell the story. However, Sandy glared back and said, "Oh, grow up, Harry. It's fine. Hermione is _not_ that petty."

"Petty?" echoed Hermione, looking confused. "Why would Harry be concerned about me being petty?"

Sandy sighed, squeezing Ron's hand in hers, and began to tell the story. "When I woke up this morning, I went up to the boys' dormitory to wish Ron a happy birthday. I also woke Harry up. He was grumpy, but he spotted some Chocolate Cauldrons on the ground near his bed, so he ate those. As I was giving Ron his present, Harry started acting really weird. We were concerned and asked his what was going on. He said that he was in love with Romilda Vane. Now, we knew _that_ wasn't possible, because he's in love with you. So I realized that Romilda must have sent him the Chocolate Cauldrons and spiked them with a love potion."

Hermione nodded, taking all the information in her stride. "Go on."

"Ron and I decided that we should take him to Slughorn so that he could put him right. I figured Harry wouldn't want you to see him like that," Sandy said to Hermione. "We went to Slughorn, and he was more than happy to brew up a quick antidote. He gave it to Harry, and he came out of it, of course. To celebrate his own success, Slughorn suggested that we have some of this mead he had gotten for Christmas. He poured us some, and then Ron drank from it first, and-"

Here, Sandy broke off, shaking and looking tearful. Ron squeezed her hand tightly and murmured, "Shhh, love. Don't cry. It's all right, I'm okay now."

Harry picked up where his sister had left off. "Ron fell to the floor, and he was sort of… I don't know, foaming at the mouth, I guess. Slughorn just stood there and stared, like he didn't know what to do. I was about to go grab a bezoar, but Sandy beat me to it. She was at the cabinet and shoving it down Ron's throat before I could even blink."

"Well, you needn't worry about me being petty," said Hermione huffily. "You think I'm going to hold you responsible for how you acted while under the influence of a love potion? I think not."

"I know," said Harry humbly. "I was wrong. I'm sorry. I… I love you, Hermione."

She softened. "I love you, too, Harry. But anyway, the mead was poisoned? Who would want to poison Slughorn?"

"Can we not talk about this now please?" Sandy whispered softly.

"Of course," said Harry quickly. "Of course. We'll talk about it later."

"You must have been brilliant," Hermione told her, placing her hands on her shoulders, wanting to make up for her lack of tact, "to react so quickly and to save Ron's life. Really."

"She's always brilliant," Ron murmured, pressing a soft kiss to Sandy's hand.

He had always known that she was brilliant and talented and she meant the world to him, but now she had saved his life. How could he ever pay her back for that? How could he ever even possibly deserve her?

IIIII

Ron was studying in the common room, when Harry suddenly appeared in front of him. "Oh, hey, Harry, mate," said Ron, looking up at him. He was surprised to see that the front of Harry's robes were covered in blood. "What _happened_?"

Harry did not reply. He was pale and looked vaguely sick and he seemed incapable of speech at the moment.

"Harry," said Ron more urgently, throwing his book into an empty chair and standing up. "Harry, do you need to go to Madam Pomfrey? What's happened?"

Harry shook his head numbly. "Not me," he said. Pointing to the blood, he added, "Not mine."

"Well, whose then?" Ron persisted. "Who's hurt?" He felt his stomach drop. "Where's Sandy?"

"Hospital wing," was all Harry said.

All coherent thought leaving his mind, Ron seized a fistful of Harry's robes and took off toward the hospital wing. The journey seemed twice as long as it should have, and he was gripped by fear the entire time. What had happened to her? Why was Harry covered in her blood? Why was Harry in some odd catatonic state? Who would be able to tell him what had happened?

When they reached the hospital wing, he was shocked to find Professor Snape standing over Sandy's bed, accompanied by Malfoy and Madam Pomfrey. Snape seemed to be giving instructions to Madam Pomfrey, while Malfoy just stared dumbly at Sandy's limp form lying on the hospital bed. When Snape was done, he said, "Come, Draco, let's go discuss our issues elsewhere."

Ron approached cautiously, Harry still in tow. "Madam Pomfrey? What's happened to her?" He looked down in horror at his still girlfriend. She had been stripped of her shirt, but her entire torso up to her neck was covered in tight bandages, which were, even now, soaked with blood.

Madam Pomfrey opened her mouth to answer, but Snape cut her off, "If you really wish to know what happened to dear Miss Potter there, Mister Weasley, I suggest that you ask _Mister_ Potter. After all, he was the one who cursed her into this hospital bed." Turning to Draco, he said, "Come, Draco." They then swept out of the hospital wing.

Ron gaped at Harry. "H-Harry? That can't be true… can it?"

Harry seemed to have finally come out of his catatonic state. "It- it was an accident," he said shakily, closing his green eyes tightly and gripping the railing of his twin's hospital bed. "I- Malfoy and I were dueling in the bathroom, and Sandy stepped in. The hex was meant for Malfoy, but I guess she had some idea of how horrible it was, because she stepped in front of him and pushed him out of the way… there was so much blood…"

Ron could not bring himself to look at Harry at the moment, so instead he looked down at Sandy. He took her limp hand and squeezed it, wondering if she knew that he was there at all. He had known that she was a good person, he had known that all along. But he was astounded that even she would take a curse as terrible as this for… _Malfoy_? She was really incredibly selfless, and yet, she had chosen him. She had chosen to be with him.

He felt incredibly lucky.

"Ron…" Harry said, after a few moments passed in total silence.

"Don't," said Ron sharply. "I'm not hocked off and I don't blame you or anything like that. I just can't really talk to you right now. So just… please don't."

Harry swallowed hard and nodded.

Ron looked down at the girl he loved and began to pray that she recovered soon. He needed her.

IIIII

"This is it! Dumbledore's taking us to look for one of the Horcruxes."

Sandy looked flushed with excitement as she stood in front of Ron in the common room, but he could barely bring himself to smile, as all his inside were turning themselves inside out. By the looks of it, she and Harry had just run all the way from the Headmaster's office, and the rapid way in which they were speaking insinuated that they did not have much time to linger.

"Be careful," said Hermione in a worried voice, standing up and hugging Harry.

"I will," Harry promised her solemnly, placing a firm and reassuring kiss on her lips. She pulled away, smiling as best as she could.

Ron looked at them briefly, then turned his attention to Sandy in front of him. "Oh, here-!" she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling something out. She thrust it at him.

Taking it from her, he realized that it was the small vial of Felix Felicis that Harry had won from Slughorn during their first Potions class of the year. "I don't want this," Ron told her, attempting to hand it back to her. "This belongs to Harry, and you two are going to be in much more danger tonight than we are."

She gazed at him sternly. "That's not true, Ronald. We'll be with Dumbledore. We'll be _fine_. You, on the other hand, will in a school without Dumbledore, and you know my stance on the Malfoy issue. Just take it. Please."

Reluctantly, he slipped it into his pocket. "We'll keep an eye out for trouble. Maybe we'll try to round up some old members of the D.A.," he said bracingly, trying to keep his mind off of the ever-ominous separation.

"That sounds like a good idea," she said. Taking his hands, she said, "I love you, Ron. Please stay safe tonight. For me."

"Me? I'm not the one going after a bit of You-Know-Who's soul," he said. "But I will. _You_ stay safe as well, and you come back, do you understand me? I don't know what I'd do if you didn't."

She opened her mouth to remind him of the prophecy, but closed it, thinking better of it. Instead, she leaned forward and kissed him passionately, her mouth meshing against his and their tongues clashing. Pulling away, she murmured, "I love you, Ron. I'll come back, don't you worry."

Yet, he couldn't help feeling worried as she ran out of the common room with her twin. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong that night.

IIIII

On his last night at Hogwarts, Ron was awoken by a loud crash in the common room. Glancing over at Harry's bed, he was surprised to see that Harry was nowhere in sight.

He made his way into the common room, and there he was met with a strange sight.

The twins were bent together over the floor in the darkness of the common room, apparently picking something up. Harry had a rucksack on his back. As Sandy shifted, Ron saw that there was another rucksack on the floor. It had, evidently, split and the twins were now trying to pick up its contents and repair it.

"And just where do you two think you're going?" he asked, feeling anger rising in his throat as he thought of what they must be planning to do.

They were planning to leave, without him and without Hermione. After they had promised to let them come. How could they do this?"

Both twins whirled around to face him, nearly identical looks of surprise and guilt plastered over their faces. "Ron!" Sandy squealed, dropping the book she was holding. "We, er- I…"

"Bloody hell," Harry murmured, shaking his head at his twin. "Is there any use in coming up with an excuse? Or do you already know?"

"I can put two and two together, thank you," snapped Ron. "I'm not _that_ thick. Why are you doing this after you both _promised_ Hermione and me that we would all go together?"

"Look, mate-" said Harry, but then he caught his sister's eye. Clearing his throat awkwardly, he said, "maybe I better leave you two alone. I'll see you in the morning then, mate."

Ron only grunted as Harry brushed past him. "Well?" he demanded, turning to Sandy the moment Harry was gone.

"Listen, Ron," Sandy said beseechingly, "I _know_ what I promised, but…"

"But you don't care?" he supplied bitterly.

"No, _no_, it's not that!" she said, looking appalled at the very thought. "Ron, it's just that… look, only Harry and I have to do this. Okay? This doesn't involve you. You're free to rid your life of Voldemort and this bloody prophecy and move on. I wanted you to be able to do that. I don't want to… I don't want to be a bloody ball and chain for the rest of your life."

"Why do you think," he said, spitting out every word viciously, "that it always has to be just you and Harry? Hermione and I are more than capable of taking care of ourselves. Hermione and I have experienced more than our fair share of danger in the time that we've know you two. And specifically between you and me, what about me isn't good enough for you? Why is Harry so much better?"

"Ron!" she said, going pale. "Ron, that's not it _at all!_ Don't you ever say that! It's not that you're not good enough, it's that I don't want to lose you! And like I said, this doesn't have to involve you!"

"You just don't get it, do you?" he said, chuckling without actually finding anything amusing. "If our positions were reversed, would you be able to just stand here and let me walk away? I don't think so. Because it involved you, it involves me. End of story."

She looked frightened. "Ron, I… I need you to be here when I get back."

"I will," he promised her solemnly, taking a step closer. "And I'll be there with you every step of the way. Just don't you two try to run out of me again." He held his arms out to her.

"I promise," she said, nodding and stepping into his arms. He hugged her tightly, pressing a kiss to the top of her black head of hair. "Oh, and don't tell Hermione about this. I was the one who made Harry do this, and it's no use making her hocked off at him."

"All right, I won't," he murmured. "Sandy, don't you leave me. Don't you walk out on me. Don't you go where I can't follow."

She looked up at him, her green eyes shining with unshed tears. "Never."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: It still isn't mine. Enjoy this last chapter! Please review! **

Chapter 7

Ron was pacing nervously back and forth in his room, vaguely aware of the fact that he was probably wearing a rut in the carpet at this point. His palms were sweaty and clammy, and he was beginning to wonder if he was going mental.

_Now_ was certainly not the time to talk to Harry about this. Mad-Eye Moody had just died yesterday, how could he dare to talk about this less than twenty-four hours later?

"I can't do it," he croaked nervously to himself, and the ghoul in the attic groaned loudly in response. "I just can't do it-"

The bedroom door opened with a creak and Harry stepped in. "Can't do what?" he asked, a somewhat bemused look on his face. "Talking to yourself, are you, Ron? You know that's the first sign of insanity, don't you?"

"Ha," he laughed weakly, feeling his stomach flip over in a nauseating manner. "Very funny, Harry."

He looked at him warily. "What's got your knickers in a twist, mate? You seem all wound up."

"It's just… it's just that- I want to talk to you about something," Ron forced himself to blurt out rather quickly.

"All right," said Harry rather calmly, and Ron was impressed that Harry had managed to understand him.

Ron took a seat on his bed, and Harry took a seat on his own. "What's going on, Ron?" Harry pressed on. "Just spit it out."

Ron sucked in what he hoped would be a deep, calming breath. It did absolutely nothing to calm him, but he plowed onward anyway. There was no turning back at this point. "."

"Now that I cannot decipher," Harry said, chuckling a bit. "Come again?"

Ron forced himself to breathe. Slowly, he forced out, "I want to ask your permission to ask Sandy to marry me."

Harry opened his mouth to reply almost immediately, but Ron cut him off.

"I know what you're thinking," he said, running a hand through his red hair nervously. He jumped to his feet and began pacing back and forth once more. "Now isn't the time- there's a war going on! How can I even thinking about something _stupid_ like this! But I- but I think-"

"Ron!" Harry interrupted loudly, seizing Ron by the shoulders to make him stop talking. "Shut up, and let me talk, will you?"

Slightly taken aback, Ron sank back down onto his bed, mouth slightly open, and nodded mutely.

"Thank you," said Harry, relieved. "Of _course_ you have my permission to propose to Sandy. Why would I say 'no'? You're the only bloke she's ever been with, and she's always going to love you. And I know you feel the same about her. You make each other happy, and that's all I want for my sister. I want her alive, and I want her happy. As for the war going on- well, Bill and Fleur are getting married in a few days, aren't they? I think that in times like this… it's even _more_ important to have things like weddings. I mean… we can't let Voldemort take everything away from us." He rolled his eyes when Ron flinched at his use of the name. "We have to prove that we're still going to love each other, still going to continue living, no matter what he does. He cannot control us. Don't let him tear you two apart. Don't let him keep you two from living. That would be the worst thing you could possibly do."

"So… so you approve then, mate?" Ron said weakly, standing up so that he was almost eye-to-eye with Harry.

"Of course I do, Ron," replied Harry. "If I didn't approve of the two of you together, I would have beaten you to a pulp the minute you looked at her the wrong way."

"But… I was eleven."

"Your point being?" asked Harry. "Ron, she's my sister. I have to protect her. She's all I have left of my family. I know we say that a lot, but it's true. And you… I know you'll care for her, and I know you'll protect her. I trust you. I've been hoping you two would end up together since second year."

Ron had never felt so relieved in his entire life.

IIIII

"Look, why don't we stop in that diner and discuss what we're going to do?"

Sandy pointed across the street to a diner, one of the few places still open at this time of night.

"All right," Ron said, slipping his hand into hers.

"Wait!" Hermione cried, grabbing Sandy's shoulder before the two of them stepped into the crosswalk. "You and Harry can't just waltz around in plain sight. You two are being hunted. Here!" Digging through her beaded purse, she pulled out the Invisibility Cloak and thrust it into Sandy's hands.

"Oh, fine," she huffed. "Come on, Harry." Reluctantly, she pried her hand from Ron's grasp and threw the Cloak over Harry and herself. "Let's go."

The four of them made their way across the street, a difficult task given that two of them were invisible. Ron held the door of the diner open and Harry and Sandy went through first, followed by Hermione and Ron.

Ron and Hermione slid into one side of a booth, and Sandy and Harry slid, invisible, into the other side. "So what are going to do?" whispered Hermione, after the waitress took their orders.

"I dunno," murmured Ron, trying to direct his response both at Hermione and at the invisible twins. "I _hate_ this, this is too weird… can you two hear me?"

"Yes, Ron," snapped Harry. "We're invisible, not deaf."

"We need to find a place to stay," said Sandy, struggling to keep some semblance of peace between the two boys. She glanced down at the engagement ring on her left ring finger, which Ron had just given to her at the wedding before it was disrupted by the arrival of Death Eaters. She wanted to tell Harry and Hermione the news _so_ badly…

"-a place where Voldemort can't find us," Hermione was saying as Sandy snapped back to reality.

The door open and two workmen stepped in.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione continued their discussion, but Sandy stared at them from under the cloak. There was something oddly familiar about one of the workmen… she felt like she had seen him before…

Then suddenly she knew what the workman was going to do before he did it. As his hand dove into his pocket, she threw the Cloak off of her and Harry with a flourish and cried, "Get down!" to Ron and Hermione.

"What are you doing, are you mental?" Hermione screeched, looking frightened.

Harry, however, immediately knew what his twin was thinking. Both Potters drew their wands and pointed them at the workmen.

_"Stupefy!"_ Harry cried.

At the same time, Sandy shouted, _"Petrificus Totalus!"_

Sandy's spell hit one dead on, but Harry's missed. The workman, whom she now recognized as the Death Eater called Rowle, snarled and pointed his wand at Sandy, shouting, _"Sectum-"_

Enraged, Ron drew his wand and cut him off. _"Stupefy!"_

Two jets of red light hit Rowle at once and he fell to the floor. Looking around, Ron realized that Harry had cursed him at the same time. While Harry and Hermione made their way over to the Stunned Death Eaters, Ron went to Sandy. "Are you all right, love?" he asked, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"I'm fine," she nodded. "Thanks." She leaned against him, their bodies fitting together perfectly. "How did they find us? Is it… Is it Harry and me?"

"No, of course not, love," he told her firmly. "It must be something else. I don't know how they found us, but it's _not_ because of Harry and you. So don't you _dare_ think of abandoning me again."

She nodded and bit her lip, thinking guiltily of the end of their sixth year, when she and Harry had tried to leave Hogwarts without Ron and Hermione in the middle of the night.

"So where are we going to go? Hermione's right, we do need somewhere safe. Someone safe from You-Know-Who," Ron said, trying to draw the conversation away from the attack.

"I… I don't know," she admitted, shrugging. "I have no idea what we're going to do. Well, let me talk to Harry."

He resisted the urge to snap at her as he had done so often before. _Why was it always Harry?_

He had been perfectly capable of saving her from Rowle just now, but Harry had to go and steal his thunder by Stunning Rowle as well.

Would Harry always mean more to her than he did?

IIIII

"Sandy… love, are you in here?"

Ron knocked on the door to Sirius' old room, pressing his ear against it. There was no response, but he detected the soft sounds of crying. He tried turning the doorknob, but it was locked. Sighing, he pointed his wand at it and said softly, _"Alohomora."_

Opening the door, he found Sandy sitting on the bed, hugging her knees to her chest and crying softly. He sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her, pressing a sweet kiss into her hair. "I'm here, love. Tell me what's wrong."

She said nothing, but continued to cry into his shoulder for several minutes. When she was a bit more composed, she said shakily, "I c-can't believe Lupin w-would abandon T-tonks like that."

Ron bit hit lip. Marriage had always seemed like a sacred thing to her, something that could never be violated or broken. Lupin's attempt to abandon Tonks and their unborn child had apparently shaken her faith.

"He's scared, love," Ron told her. "He's scared, and he feels guilty. He feels like… like he doesn't deserve her." _I feel like I don't deserve you. I never have, and I never will. How could you possibly stand to be with me when you deserve so much more?_

"H-how could he?" was all she said. "I- I thought that husbands were never supposed to leave their wives. I thought that they were supposed to stick together. They're _family_. Family is supposed to stay together." She was trembling in his arms, so he ran his hands reassuringly up and down her back.

"Shhh," he whispered soothingly into her ear. "Sandy, I promise, I _promise_ that I will never abandon you. Not now, not once we're married, not ever. We _are_ a family. No matter what."

IIIIII

Pain wracked every single inch of Ron's body. He screamed out, his mind and his senses blinded by the sheer intensity of it all. With a jolt, he realized that his arm was no longer attached to his body, and the realization made the pain ten thousand times worse.

"Ron! Ron!"

Sandy's voice caught his attention, and some of the pain subsided slightly. Her face hung over him, as though suspended in midair, some of her hair brushed against his cheeks. He could feel himself shaking and trembling, and a loud groan of pain escaped his lips against his will. "Ron, shhhh," she said, stroking his hair. "It's okay, I'm here." She sounded tearful and terrified, and tears were shining in her eyes. She bit her lip to keep herself from crying; she had to hold herself together for Ron.

"Harry!" she snapped. "Get me that bloody dittany!"

"I'm trying!" her twin replied testily. "But this bag is bloody endless! Oh, damn it all- _accio dittany!_"

"This is going to hurt," Sandy warned him, bending down and pressing a kiss to his sweaty forehead.

Ron managed to let out a groan that sounded like acknowledgement of her words, and she began to administer the dittany to his Splinched arm. He cried out loudly in pain, and Sandy flinched visibly, terror splashed clearly over her face. Spasms of pain wracked his body, and he began to flail about uncontrollably. "Hermione, hold him still for me, please…" said Sandy, sounding desperate.

Ron felt two hands gently yet firmly holding him down to the ground. "Ron, stay still," said Hermione's soft voice. "You've got to stay still."

It took every fiber of his self-control to stay still and not to cry out as Sandy continued to splash drops of dittany on his arm. After what seemed like hours, she put the stopper back on the bottle and handed it to Hermione. "I think that should be all," she murmured wearily. She collapsed on the ground next to Ron as he blacked out.

When he awoke, the first thing he was aware of was a warm body next to his. Looking to his right, he saw that Sandy was snuggled up to next to him. She had somehow managed to charm his bunk to make it big enough for the two of them. Her wand was clutched in her hand, which was laying directly on top of his chest in a protective manner.

He allowed himself a small smile.

Turning to glance at his damaged arm, he tested it out. Trying to move it slightly, he gasped aloud at the resulting pain and grimaced horribly. He would not be able to use it properly for a while, he guessed. "Are you okay?" Sandy asked urgently, bleary eyed. Apparently his gasp had woken her up.

"Yes, love," he lied, lifting his head slightly to kiss her forehead. "Go back to sleep. I'm fine."

"All right," she murmured, laying her head back down and drifting off almost immediately.

For the umpteenth time, Ron thanked fate for having her in his life.

IIIII

"What are we going to do?"

"I honestly don't know, Sandy… Dumbledore didn't leave us much to work with to be quite honest…"

Ron watched jealously from the flap of the tent. The twins were on guard duty, nestled together in the cold. Sandy was leaning against her brother in a dependent sort of way, as though she were terrified and she sought protection from him, Harry.

Why did she not seek out protection from him, Ron?

Ron felt the green monster that was jealousy clawing at his rib cage, and he fought to drive it out. _Sandy's done so much for you_, he tried to remind himself. _As has Harry. They both mean a lot to you. Why should you be jealous? You know that they have to stick together. Especially because of the prophecy._

He felt sick to his stomach as he remember that Sandy may not survive her final encounter with You-Know-Who.

He had always been somewhat possessive when it came to her, and now that she may not survive, he wanted her all to himself. But now it seemed, she wanted to spend all her time with her brother. And he could not stand it.

Why was he never good enough?

Why did she always put Harry first?

Why was he always more important to her?

Why?

Why?

_Why?_

Ron wasn't sure how much more he could take.

IIIIII

Ron was in hell, of this he was certain.

He had regretted walking away from Harry, Sandy, and Hermione the minute he Disapparated, but there was no way to find them. They would cover their tracks perfectly; besides, would they want him of all people to find him anyway? He highly doubted it.

He had betrayed her. He had promised never to abandon her like Lupin wanted to abandon Tonks, he had promised he would never leave her.

And now he had done just that, knowing full well that by doing so, he may never see her again. At least… not alive.

Every day, he checked the _Daily Prophet_, fearing the worst. Every morning, he woke up, scared that the headlines would proclaim their deaths and Voldemort's triumph. And he would be to blame.

He would never know if, by staying, he would have helped them on their way to victory.

Whenever he closed his eyes, he saw the hurt, the betrayal, the pain beyond words written across her face.

He could not even speak her name without bringing tears to his eyes. Bill and Fleur had stopped bringing her up as well, only speaking of Harry if they wished to talk of the twins, for they, too, had grown tired of Ron storming off in tears from the dinner table.

Bill's silent judgment was almost worse than Fleur's screaming and shrieking. He understood why everyone hated him for leaving them, especially her.

_"'ow could you leave zem? Zey are your friends, I thought!"_ Fleur had shrieked angrily, when she had realized that Ron was alone. _"'ow could you 'urt Sandy? She iz ze sweetest, most vivacious girl I 'ave ever met! You should be ashamed of yourself! You do not deserve her!"_

Bill had, after a few more minutes, dragged Fleur into another room to calm her down, but the damage had been done.

Fleur was right, of course.

How could he leave them? What kind of friend was he?

How could he leave her? What kind of fiancé did that? He had broken all his promises to her.

And, as he had always suspected, he did not deserve her.

IIIIII

Ron stared sullenly at the cold ground, trying to keep himself warm as he and Harry kept watch.

He had not expected Sandy to jump back into his arms the minute he returned, but he certainly had not expected her to _hate_ him either. Being around Sandy but not _with_ Sandy was almost as bad as not being around her at all.

Almost.

He clung to the desperate hope that he could wear her down, that she would, eventually, forgive him and take him back. He could only hope that she would act against all reason, because reason and logic said that she should never take him back. He had hurt her far too deeply for that.

"Ron," Harry said, drawing his best mate back to reality, "c'mon."

Looking up, Ron realized that Harry was now standing in front of him rather than sitting down on the cold, hard ground beside him. "What?" Ron asked him dumbly. "Is it time to change the watch?"

"No," said Harry, shaking his head. "There's something we need to do. I'll be right back. Wait right here."

Harry disappeared into the tent for a moment, leaving a very confused and befuddled Ron sitting on the ground in his wake. He returned a moment later, holding the sword of Godric Gryffindor and the locket. "What?" Ron gaped at him stupidly. "You want to destroy it? _Now?_"

"Yes," Harry replied, nodding. He thrust the sword into Ron's hands. "You should be the one to do it."

"_What?_" Ron demanded, his mouth widening. "No way, mate, I don't deserve to! Look at what I've done, to you, to Hermione, to your sister! That thing- that thing has more power over me than it does over any of you lot!"

"And that's _exactly_ why you have to be the one to do it," Harry told him firmly. He seized a fistful of Ron's shirt and pulled him to his feet. "C'mon, we have to get a good distance away from the tent, or we'll wake the girls…"

Ron was simply dumbstruck as Harry dragged him further from the tent and deeper into the trees. How could Harry possibly think that he should be the one to destroy the Horcrux? Shouldn't Harry do it? Or Sandy? Or even Hermione?

Why him? He couldn't even wear the thing without taking everyone else's heads off.

He opened his mouth to protest Harry's decision again, but before he could do so, Harry announced, "This is as good a spot as any." Kneeling on the ground, he placed the locket on top of a rock. Looking up at Ron, he said, "I've got to speak in Parseltongue to it for it to open. When it does, you've got to get rid of it straightaway. If you give it time to try to destroy you, it will. Do you understand me?"

Ron could open gape at him. "_Ron_," Harry said urgently. "Do you understand me?"

"Y-yes," he stammered nervously, feeling his heart race. His grip on the hilt of the sword tightened. Could he really do this?

Harry then turned to the locket and made a horrible, strangled hissing noise. The locket slowly popped open.

For a moment, Ron thought he had gone deaf, for all the natural sounds of the forest had died away. Then the world seemed to explode.

Ron landed on his back, holding the sword aloft. He heard a thud several feet away that he assumed was Harry.

Opening his eyes, he saw, coming out of the locket, three black figures that seemed to be made of shadow. He watched, blue eyes and mouth open with horror, as the figures took the shape of the three people for whom he cared the most: Harry, Hermione, and, of course, Sandy.

The three shadow figures could most definitely pass for Harry, Hermione, and Sandy, save the cruelty in their faces. None of their faces had ever shown such contempt nor such disdain for him, or for anyone for that matter.

As he watched, frozen with shock and fear, the Sandy-like figure stepped forward and began to speak, her cold and cruel voice echoing throughout the forest. "Ronald Weasley… you are _nothing_. Nothing but a fool."

"Ron, don't listen!" shouted Harry over the roar the Horcrux was making. "It's all a lie!"

The horrible imitation of Sandy continued to speak over her real life twin. "Why would you ever think that I would need _you_? I have my brother-" she gestured to the shadowy form of Harry- "and my best mate. My brother is the only person that I really need." She gestured to the smoky Hermione, who let out a derisive shout of laughter. "What do I need you for? I don't need you. I never have, and I never will."

Ron felt what little hope he had had leave him. Sandy would never take him back… why should she? She did not need him… she never had needed him…

"All of this, all of our relationship," continued Sandy, her face as black as night, "has been a _lie_. You, in your eleven-year old naivety were presumptuous enough to believe that _you_ stood a chance with _me, _the great Sandy Potter! One of the Two Who Lived! Ha! I have never cared about you. It was _all_ a lie."

She was saying everything he most feared, all his worst nightmares were coming true… what was the point, what was the point of anything without Sandy?

She leaned forward, almost close enough for Ron to touch, if she had not been made of smoke. "You don't deserve me," she sneered. "I deserve much better."

"Ron!" Harry roared. "Kill it, kill it, Ron! It's lying, you know it's lying! _She loves you!_"

Images flashed in his mind's eye in rapid succession. Sandy, hugging him on his twelfth birthday- Sandy, lying in a hospital bed, bruised and beaten- Sandy, at the Yule Ball, her arms looped around his neck possessively- Sandy, kissing him in the hospital wing for the first time- Sandy, helping him practice for his Quidditch tryouts- Sandy, telling him that she loved him-

With a great roar, Ron brought the sword of Godric Gryffindor crashing down onto the Horcrux. It died, making the horrible screaming sound of nails on a blackboard.

Panting, Ron collapsed onto the ground, trembling. Footsteps signaled Harry's approach.

"Ron?" Harry said gently, kneeling on the ground next to him. He placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, mate. She cried herself to sleep every night that you were gone. I couldn't comfort her. She _does_ need you. I reckon she always has; there are just some things I can't do for her. She… she loves you, mate. I'll tell you the truth, even if she won't right now. Just give it time."

IIIII

Ron watched surreptitiously as Sandy attempted to gather some food from the woods for their meal. He sighed longingly, watching as her dark black hair fell over her face.

He missed her.

Though she was constantly around, it was almost as though she weren't.

She refused to hold a civil conversation with him, she refused to be alone in a room with him, and she refused to touch him. She refused to even look at him, most days.

How was he supposed to believe that she still loved him when her behavior constantly told him otherwise?

When he voiced his fears to Harry, he replied, "Ron, don't worry. I know my sister, and she's just putting up a front. She's going to come round, you have to trust me."

Unsatisfied with Harry's response, Ron turned to Hermione, who had huffed and said, "Well, I think you deserve what you're getting, personally. You hurt us all when you left, Ronald, but you hurt her worst of all. You shook her faith in relationships, in marriage. You shook her trust in you." Then Hermione had softened and added, "But Harry's right, you know. She does still love you. She just needs some time for wounds to heal before she can give you a second chance, is all."

Just barely heartened by their responses, Ron continued to do his best to prove his worth to her. He was constantly helping out, trying to forge new plans, and he took the watch twice as much as any of the others did.

Exerting all of this effort was exhausting him, but he knew it would be worth it when she was his once more.

IIIII

"Well," said Bellatrix, a wicked smile spreading over her face, "I'll just have to have a little chat with this girlie." She seized Sandy by the hair, and Sandy grimaced, the expression barely recognizable on her jinxed and swollen face. "I'll find out where you got this-" she brandished the sword of Godric Gryffindor- "-and- who knows?- maybe I'll find out who you _really_ are."

"No!" snarled Ron, fighting against Greyback, who was holding him captive. It was no use; Greyback tightened his grip, making all of his struggling futile.

Bellatrix laughed coldly. "Throw them in the dungeon."

As he was being dragged away, Sandy caught Ron's eye- green locked onto blue. Her emerald green eyes were dark with fear.

"Let me go!" Ron screeched furiously, as he was thrown unceremoniously down into the dungeon. Harry and Hermione landed with thumps on either side of him, and then the door was locked. A high-pitched scream sounded from the floor above. Pounding his fists on the door, Ron bellowed, "SANDY!"

Whirling around to face Harry and Hermione, he demanded, "Well? We've got to do something!"

"Ron?" asked a dreamy voice. "Is that you?" Luna Lovegood stepped out of the shadows and into what little light shone in the dungeon.

"Luna," said Harry, surprised. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she said airily. "Better than Mr. Ollivander."

"He's here?" gasped Hermione. "Where?"

Luna beckoned them to a darkened corner, where Mr. Ollivander, Dean Thomas, and Griphook sat. "Ron! Hermione! And that must be… Harry! I _knew_ you lot hadn't gone on the run!" said Dean happily.

"We don't have time for a reunion, Dean," snapped Ron. Grabbing Harry's shoulders, he said, "In case you've forgotten, your sister is alone up there with Bellatrix _bleeding_ Lestrange!"

As if to emphasize his point, another scream echoed from the upper floor. Ron winced. "There's no way out," Mr. Ollivander told him sadly. "We've tried everything, there are magical enchantments…"

"NO!" Ron roared, slamming his fist into the stony wall, scraping the skin off of his knuckles. "There _has_ to be a way out!" He was so caught up in his anger, that he missed Harry calling into a shard of mirror for help.

Thus, Dobby Apparating right in front of him took him completely by surprise.

"Harry Potter!" squealed the elf happily. "Dobby is most happy to see you, sir! But… where is Sandy Potter?"

"She's in trouble," Harry told the elf urgently. "Dobby, we need your help. Could you get us in and out of this room?"

"Anything for Harry Potter, sir!"

"Then can you first take Luna, Mr. Ollivander, Griphook, and Dean to-"

"Shell Cottage," Ron cut in. "It's safe."

"Of course!" said Dobby. "Dobby will be back in a minute, sir."

Dobby Disapparated with Luna, Ollivander, Griphook and Dean. "What are we going to do?" Hermione asked anxiously, tying her hair back into a ponytail.

"When Dobby gets back," Harry said darkly, "we're going to break out of here. And we're going to save my sister."

Ron felt a wave of relief roll over him. "You're finally talking sense, mate."

Just then, Dobby Apparated in front of them once more. "Where to next, sir?" he squeaked to Harry eagerly.

"Dobby, we need you take us upstairs," Harry said. Then, after seeing the look Hermione was giving him, he hastily added, "Please."

"Of course, sir!" Dobby chirped.

The three of them grabbed hold of Dobby, and with a crack, they Disapparated.

They rematerialized on the other side of the dungeon door, just out of sight of Bellatrix and the Malfoys. "Tell me where you got it!" Bellatrix demanded. "You _must_ have stolen it from my vault!"

"I didn't steal it, I swear…" Sandy whimpered.

"You lying bitch!" shrieked Bellatrix. _"Crucio!"_

Ron had reached the end of line. With a great cry, he launched himself onto the landing and Disarmed Bellatrix, crying, _"Expelliarmus!"_

The sounds of others dueling told him that Harry and Hermione had followed him, and he made his way to Sandy. He lifted her to her feet, murmuring, "It's okay, love, I've got you now."

"Ron," she murmured weakly, her eyes drifting shut.

"Hold it right there," said a voice. Wormtail.

He had his wand pointed directly at Ron's heart, his silver hand quivering with delight. "Put your wands down… and no one dies," Wormtail said to Harry and Hermione.

They exchanged glances and placed their wands on the floor.

"That's it," said Wormtail, loving the feeling of being in charge. "And Bellatrix said I was good for nothing!"

Suddenly, Ron felt Sandy stand up on her own, an amazing feat for someone who had just been tortured. "Lower your wand, Wormtail," she said, carefully making her voice even.

"I don't think so," he sneered back.

"Lower your wand," she repeated, this time through gritted teeth. "You owe me. Remember?"

Wormtail, eyes wide, slowly, hesitantly lowered his wand. His silver hand came up and closed around his neck, strangling him. "Should we…?" Ron asked her hesitantly, pointing his wand at the hand indecisively.

"There's nothing we can do," she told him sadly. "Riddle won't stand for a servant that shows mercy."

The dueling had broken out again, and Sandy ran off to help her brother tackle Draco Malfoy.

He watched her in complete and total awe for a moment, before he joined in the fight.

Even if she never took him back, he knew that he would spend the rest of his life proving to her that he was worth a second chance.

IIIII

Bill and Fleur had given Ron and Sandy their own room at Shell Cottage, which had done much to disgruntle Harry.

However, there was no chance for romance at night, for they were exhausted every evening and fell asleep almost as soon as their heads hit their pillows.

One night, Ron woke to the sound of hysterical crying. Blue eyes fluttering open, he saw that Sandy was sitting on the edge of the bed, her back facing him, and her shoulders shaking as she sobbed. "Sandy, what's wrong, love?" he said, sitting up in bed and inching closer to her. "Why are you crying?"

"N-nightmare," she spluttered, burying her face in the crook of his neck, salty tears wetting his skin there. "It was h-horrible."

"None of it was real, love," he murmured reassuringly, stroking her black hair and kissing her forehead. "It was all just a dream."

She nodded and sniffled, looking up at him. "I'm sorry for waking you," she told him softly. "You should go back to sleep."

"It's all right, Sandy," he told her gently. "I'd rather stay up and talk with you until you feel better."

She managed to offer him a small, watery smile. "I'm very happy you came back, Ronald. I… I don't know what I would have done if you didn't, to be quite honest."

"Well," he said, "I was miserable the minute I left. I knew I had screwed up. There was never a question of me coming back, it was just of question of how I was going to find you lot. Personally, I'm just glad you're giving me a second chance."

"Ron… I have always loved you. I will only ever love _you_. How could I not give you a second chance? Once you came back, it was just a matter of time, and I knew that. And I knew that you knew that, and it hocked me off a little bit."

"Actually," he admitted, "I didn't know that. I… I thought you might never want to be with me again."

She looked at him as though he were daft. "Ron, the two of us being together… it's always been inevitable, from the moment we first met. I thought you knew."

IIIII

The world seemed to stop around Ron as Hagrid was paraded into the Great Hall, carrying Harry's and Sandy's bodies.

_No. It couldn't be._

He had seen her alive just under an hour ago, in the Shrieking Shack. He and Hermione had lost the twins in all the chaos after that.

Now, he realized, the twins had _lost _them. They had turned themselves over to Voldemort to stop the fighting.

She couldn't be dead. She just couldn't.

Yet, something inside of him died as he gazed upon the lifeless form of the girl he loved. Her green eyes were closed, and for that he was thankful, because he didn't think he could stand to look at her unseeing eyes, the eyes that would never again sparkle with laughter. He could barely stand to look at her face, or her mouth, which would never again utter to him the words, "I love you."

_She was dead. She was gone_.

And so was her brother, his best mate since their first year at Hogwarts. They were both gone.

Hermione's scream of grief, brought him back to reality.

He felt someone pulling him back, away from Hagrid and the Death Eaters and the twins. Ginny.

He had not even realized that he had been moving toward them. He had even realized that he was crying, that he was screaming _her_ name at the top of his lungs, that he seemed completely incapably of saying anything else.

Nothing else mattered, except that she was gone. What did life hold for him now?

But he had made a promise to her- that he would continue on, no matter what.

And this was one promise that he would not break.

IIIII

Ron held Sandy on the couch in the Gryffindor common room.

They had not retreated into their dormitories, wishing to stay together rather than enjoy the comforts that their four-posters offered.

Sandy, who had been most distraught since the end of the battle, had finally cried herself out and collapsed, exhausted, in a sleepy stupor in Ron's arms on the couch. Harry and Hermione had finally retired to their respective beds, leaving Ron alone in the common room, staring into the fire and absentmindedly stroking Sandy's hair.

She was alive.

Her warm body against his was a constant (and much appreciated) reminder of this fact.

The joy he felt upon repeating that three word sentence in his mind was astounding; the moments in which he had believed her to be dead were undoubtedly the worst moments of his entire life. She was his world, she was his life; what good was he without her?

He had lost loved ones today: Fred (his heart ached and tears welled up in his eyes), Lupin, Tonks and countless others had lost their lives, fighting for a noble cause.

But he would move on. And he would be okay. More than okay. Because he had her, and he always would.

Like she said, them being together- well, it was inevitable.


End file.
